Fonterra releases details of investment opportunity.  On Friday October 26, Fonterra released details of how members of the public will be able to gain exposure to New Zealand’s largest company and the world’s largest dairy processor by buying Units in the Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund (FSF). Â
The FSF is an integral part of Trading Amongst Farmers (TAF) as it will add liquidity to the Fonterra Shareholders’ Market, allowing Farmer Shareholders to trade Fonterra Shares  among themselves.  The FSF is a unit trust which will invest in the Economic Rights of shares in Fonterra.  Returns to unit holders in the FSF will primarily be determined by distributions made by Fonterra.  Fonterra’s dividend policy targets a payout of 65% to 75% of the adjusted net profit after tax.
Coâ€operatives Working Together (CWT) has assisted with the sale of 6888 tonnes of cheese and 690 tonnes of butter in October to date.  The companies which have benefitted from the export assistance programme this month are: Dairy Farmers of America, Darigold, Foremost Farms, Land O’Lakes, Maryland & Virgina Milk Producers Cooperative Association, United Dairymen of Arizona and Upstate Niagara Cooperative.
US dairy cow slaughter continues to run at elevated levels.  In the week to October 13 63,000 head of dairy cattle were slaughtered, 13% more than in the same week in 2011.  The dairy cow slaughter rate has been tracking ahead of the previous season most weeks since March 2012.
But the rate of growth in slaughter numbers has been particularly elevated since late July.  For the calendar year to date dairy cow slaughter in the US is 6% or 140,000 head up compared with the same time period in 2011.
Trading in the NZX Dairy Futures market was more subdued last week.  NZX Futures traded a total of
285 contracts in the week ending October 26 versus 1329 contracts the previous week. The number of  individual trades that occurred in the week to October 26 was actually greater than the previous week but the average trade size was much lower.  Last week trading activity was spread across all products, although whole milk powder (WMP) futures were traded to most.  Open interest in the WMP Futures contracts now stands at 5,301 lots.  Meanwhile open interest in skim milk powder (SMP) and anhydrous milkfat (AMF) continues to grow reaching 457 lots and 801 lots respectively.  A total of 1,985 lots have now been traded during the NZX Pastur month of October.
Source:Â NZXFutures