5 October 2023: Been there, done that, got the T-shirt

So daft is what is happening in milk powders, we’ll start this week with the real world. Everything’s down. Crude oil is crashing, over 10% in a week when weak global demand stole centre stage from OPEC manipulation, the US soy crop is piling on top of Brazil’s whopper 2023 harvest and palm oil is following on down. The trend's also continuing in liquid milk, talk yesterday at the South West Dairy Show centred around the gloomy news that it has already slipped below the 30p/litre level, having topped out at 55p. Dairy farm incomes are back in the red as feed and pretty much every other input is at best unchanged, and weak sterling is the cherry on the cake.

So why are traders and processor alike in the milk powder industry biting the hand that feeds, withholding stock from sale, and ratcheting up prices again to levels we saw last year that the end market cannot afford? And most probably causing another crash and a larger stockpile than what is still allegedly sitting currently in warehouses across the continent?

Sweet whey is up over 4% to €730, now over €200 over the early August lows, whilst skim put on another €70 to rise by 3%. To be fair, one can buy any amount of whey at the headline price, but skim milk powder has done a disappearing trick, even though it is still very much in stock.

BDC agri is the UK broker for Lacto Production milk and whey powder products.

For further information and prices, contact Greg Dunn on 01206 381521 or g.dunn@blackdiamondcommodities.com