The above pictogram perhaps sums up the traders' market stall over the last quarter.

Soya and palm oil are very interesting currently. Both have shed bucketloads over the past couple of weeks, but palm losses have slowed down while soya oil has dived from 72 cents to below 60 cents in one week. That to me is the most telling, if we believe the world of milk powders is tied inextricably to vegetable oils. If it is not, the real world of significantly reduced liquid milk supply is having more of an equilibrial effect, and we see only a quarter percent coming out of skim milk prices (down a paltry €10 this week).

Yes, sweet whey may be down another €40, and just shy of 4% lower, but this is trader heaven, and as skim milk is crash-landing, they would delight in hiking sweet whey very soon.

All that is of course dependent on geopolitics, speaking of which, recent goings-on have put a couple of cents on the pound against the euro, so UK prices are commensurately cheered.

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