After the last fortnight’s excitement, it appears to have been traders hiking the market, as producers have been quite happy to accept the extra margin and discounting now seems to have started. Traders are profit-taking too, so the price indicators suggest whey has peaked for this cycle and it’s a reasonable hypothesis that prices will decline gently until the next sting.

Skim remains unchanged, as physical offers are plentiful and discounting is probable. Could this be start of the long-awaited slide? As the world waits for the end of the extended Lunar New Year in China, the serious game of guessing how the worldwide supply and demand seesaw will tilt goes on.

Sterling remains range-bound as the froth and bubbles of the UK and EU starting positions are trumpeted, but at least Cummings’ monkey has a safe majority to push through an agreement well ahead of 31st December, but bitter and costly experience suggests a crash-out remains a serious threat.

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