The milk powder market is gently firmer this week, but the signs are there that it may be plateauing.

Skim milk jumped significantly on edible grade, up €70 on the week, and feed grade a more modest €30 higher, but still posting at €1930, which is still well under the actual offered level. Having said that, offers of skim milk powder are more readily available, so as supply becomes easier, upward price pressure becomes less pressing. Although the spring calving season is over, demand from Eastern Europe and the Middle East is still brisk for calf milk replacers.

Whey surprises, only €10 up in France and unchanged in Netherlands, as demand from S E Asia for whey and its derivatives is still raging. Against that, ASF is prevalent in Romania again, reducing demand, but full post-lockdown cheese production hasn’t been achieved yet, so upward price pressure remains.

Sterling continues to underperform, as the Cummings row rages on, but I read somewhere that Boris sacking the chief adviser would be similar to Emu sacking Rod Hull. The Eurozone post-COVID rescue package seems to have played well with the markets, and sterling still languishes in the seemingly eternal Brexit quagmire.

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