Barrels were bid to $2.05, again without a sale. Blocks traded at $2.00 for the first time since 15 August.

DEC and JAN Class IIIs were up 22¢ and 20¢, respectively, though the rest of the board was generally steady. Cheese, butter, whey and NDM futures also posted gains.

The CWT export assistance programme, having achieved more than 70 per cent participation, will be renewed for 2012-13 at 2¢/cwt., according to Hoard’s Dairyman. CWT will have a budget of about $28 million/year, mostly for cheese exports but also for butterfat.

Global Dairy Trade auction prices increased across almost all product categories.

The weighted average price for SMP was $3,354/ton ($1.52/lb.), up 1.7 per cent from the 1 November auction; WMP was $3,574/ton ($1.62/lb.), up 2.4 per cent; AMF was $3,571/ton ($1.62/lb.), up eight per cent; and cheddar cheese for industrial use was up 3.7 per cent to $3,518/ton ($1.60/lb.).

The trade-weighted index for all products was up 2.6 per cent, just the second increase since early June (see chart).

Further Reading