International milk prices fell while volumes increased in this month’s first auction held by New Zealand’s Fonterra Co-operative Group, the world’s biggest dairy exporter.
Fonterra’s GDT Price Index dipped 1.1 percent, with an average selling price of $3,950 per tonne, inthe auction held on Tuesday.
The index fell 2.6 pct at the previous sale, said Fonterra, which is known for brands such as Anchor, Anlene and Fresh n’ Fruity.
A total of 38,174 tonnes was sold at the latest auction, an increase of 4.4 percent from the previous one, the cooperative said on its website (www.globaldairytrade.info).
The auctions are held twice a month, with the next one scheduled for May 20.
The auction results can affect the New Zealand dollar as the dairy sector generates more than 7 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product.
The New Zealand milk co-operative, which is owned by about 10,500 farmers, controls nearly a third of the world dairy trade.
Source: Reuters
