Milch News, 08/24/2023

The milk supply continues to decline from week to week. According to provisional calculations, around 0.7% less raw milk was delivered to the dairies in week 32 than in the previous week. The gap compared to the first 32 calendar weeks of the previous year thus decreased further to 2.4 percent. The commodity markets appear calm in the middle of the month. On average, the cream prices increased slightly. Skim milk concentrate and liquid skim milk are described as balanced, with prices trending sideways. On average, spot market milk loses 0.6 cents and is given as 36.3 cents/kg. Sales of molded butter are reported to continue to increase. Manufacturers are satisfied with the scope. This is also attributed to the end of the summer holidays in most federal states, only the southern German federal states are on vacation a little longer. Prices are stable at the reduced level of the previous week. On the other hand, there is no impetus from the block butter market . Even in mid-August, the demand for goods and new contracts is manageable.New business deals are only occasionally concluded and are limited to the European domestic market. The prices are tending sideways, but in the Netherlands and France the block butter prices have recently fallen again. There is increased interest in the contracts on the EEX, and trading activities have increased again. Slightly weaker trends were traded on a weekly basis, but overall the traded prices are above the current spot market level. The market situation for semi-hard cheese has remained stable for weeks. Orders from food retailers in particular are still high, and sales campaigns in individual chains and discounters have boosted consumer demand. There are few changes in demand from industry and gastronomy. Contracts for the fourth quarter are currently being negotiated and closed, with stable to slightly firmer prices reported. Food grade skimmed milk powder continues to be traded quietly. Existing contracts in particular are currently being processed, and there is hardly any interest in additional quantities, both short-term and long-term.Negotiations rarely lead to deals due to different price expectations. The listing in Kempten remained unchanged yesterday. Fewer futures contracts were recently traded on the EEX than in the previous week. The prices fell by an average of 77 euros/t in a week-on-week comparison. For 2024, however, prices are currently expected to be above the current spot market level. The prices for whole milk powder also remain stable. The activities on the market are manageable, manufacturers mainly only produce to order, stocks do not press into the market. The situation with whey powder is also unchanged. Demand remains calm, while prices tend to be slightly weaker. As the current EU statistics show, more dairy products were exported outside the EU in the first half of 2023 compared to the first half of 2022. The increase in cheese is around 2%, skimmed milk powder was exported even more by 25% and whey powder and butter also have higher growth rates. Smaller quantities were registered for special baby food, and fat-filled milk powder was exported in significantly smaller quantities.Great Britain and South Korea are important buyers for butter and cheese, alongside the USA. Algeria bought the largest quantity of skimmed milk powder, but larger quantities were also ordered from China and Saudi Arabia.