After being the bearer of bad news for so long, it is a blessed relief to be able to say the market is dull and unchanged. It may have just shut up shop for the Christmas holidays, but sellers of both skim and whey claim they'll be hiking prices after new year.

Looking at skim milk powder, although unchanged in France and Netherlands, it actually fell €20-30 in Germany during the last week. One of the reasons for some longed-for softness in the skim market is that the protein fraction is very expensive, and traditional SMP protein users have switched to using more whey protein concentrate and straight whey. This in turn is putting upward pressure on whey, especially as a significant number of dryers have turned their towers over to the much higher returns from skim, and liquid whey demand from pig farms has reduced the supply line.

So we could see a slightly softer skim market confounded by a rise in whey come the new year.

The currency markets have come back to their senses, call it the hangover from the overindulgence of the election after-party (although it is interesting to note that the highs seen were immediately after the exit polls were released at 10pm last Thursday), but the usual jitters have returned with the threat of Borisconi taking the UK out the hard way at the end of 2020.

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