… but slowly.

Sweet whey rises 3% (up €20) and skim milk up 1.5% (up €40). That’s the headline market, prices provided by sellers to news-gatherers, allegedly for actual trades, but perhaps they’ve been selective.

At the sharp end of the market, the same contra-indications are still at play. Sellers are initially asking for an increase, but there are seemingly more of them about and knocking on doors that they don’t usually service. So the stockpiles are still there, even with more brisk demand. But the salient feature is that both markets have apparently bottomed, not surprising for whey at €100 below cost of production. So it’s heads it’ll stay unchanged or tails it’ll rise. This vacuum may limp through Q3, but we are likely to see the traditional bull run when executives return from their vacation to a bare cupboard and buy, buy, buy.

Crude oil is now below $70 a barrel and dragging vegoils down with it. I note the Chicago July 23 soya oil contract topped out at 75 cents near exactly a year ago, before a bumpy ride down to today’s 47 cents.

Sterling seems to be less sick than of late, as the prospect of higher UK interest rates will be needed for longer to curb inflation that is running over 2% over the Eurozone.

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