GDT auction in March 2020: comparatively moderate discounts - corona virus effect The first Mar. 20 campaign of the Global Dairy Trade (GDT) ended again with a 1.2% reduction in average prices. But measured against price cuts in other agricultural markets as a result of the coronavirus epidemic, the result is still moderate. This time, MMP did disproportionately poorly. On the other hand, butter had a plus. At 25,576 t, sales were again lower than in the pre-auctions of whole milk powder (VMP) , and the results of the pre-auction could not be kept up throughout all the delivery months. The surcharges were on average 0.5% lower. However, the range did not exceed - 0.8%. As the largest buyer, China is apparently holding back on its purchases. Skimmed milk powder (MMP) achieved the worst results with an average value of -3.2%. The -14.3% in March 2020 was a real bang. This means that the positive numbers from the pre-auction have been completely destroyed.Nevertheless, the price level remains in the middle of the range. Butterfein , with an average result of -1.7%, suffered noticeable price losses. However, the results were very different in the individual delivery months; the range is from +1% (Jul.-20) to -3.6% in Aug.-20. Pure butter is mainly traded in the Asian region. The virus epidemic may also have played a role here. Normal butter could recover from the setback of Vorauktion this time. An average growth of +1% was achieved. The decisive factor was the gain of +6.7% for the month of Apr. 2020. The course level is in the upper midfield. In view of the slump in prices in other agricultural markets on an international level, the GDT auction this time got off lightly. The reason may also be that sales volumes were at a reduced level. At EEX Leipzig , the prices for butter and skimmed milk powder dropped again after a short climb after the turn of the year.
