Another week of drifting in milk powders, whilst proteins and oils enjoyed a bounce. The headline Dutch sweet whey market posted unchanged again, whilst skim milk dropped a smidgeon, less than 1%.

The truth is that there are desperate sellers out there who will discount whey for spot delivery, but the forward market remains fixed as traders' risk is factored in, storage, finance and potentially double handling. Most processors and their customers' purchases exclude them from benefiting discounted material, so if or quite when the whey mountain could seriously reduce prices remains the consumer's gamble.

Skim is not in the same muddle, affected much more by the potential for dumping from the global edible markets, as processors are trying to protect their margins in their primary market.

Linked to the weakness in whey, whey protein concentrate has eased to €2000, despite that market being controlled by too few processors.

Soya has bounced this week, Argentine heat overcoming Brazil's mega crop, and a jump in exports. Beans, meal and oil all put on 5% or more, and palm oil joined in the fun, with buoyant exports, and an Indonesian edict for greater palm oil use in biodiesel limiting edible supply, and the cherry on the top is a La Niña is predicted to kick off in 2023 that could seriously reduce palm oil output.

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