Cream Values plummet by 5ppl in hours

Last night’s announcement that freight lorries cannot cross the sea or use the Eurotunnel caused cream values to plummet. 

Bulk cream values in October averaged £1.52 (worth 16ppl to a liquid processor) in October according to www.milkprices.com. Prices have been slipping and last week deals were done at around £1.25 (worth 12.8ppl) but by the end of last week slid to a range £1 (worth 10.25ppl) to £1.15kg (worth £11.8ppl) as traders braced themselves for Brexit on the 31st. 

Last nights announcement saw distress cream prices crash to 50p/55p kg but admittedly in limited trades. This could only be described as a car crash reducing cream values to only 5.1ppl (5.6ppl).

All liquid dairies have been planning for the 31st December but as of last night the challenges of Brexit just came forward 11 days. 

It’s a fact if we didn’t have Brexit or Covid to contend with overall dairy markets would be more or less sensible and following their normal pattern. 

As one industry milk purchaser commented to Ian “There is nothing encouraging on the horizon. Its all looking very uncertain and the pressure appears to be downwards”. 

Traders who haven’t forward sold all their surplus are pushing to offload cream wherever they can and all eyes now turn to 1st January in the new challenging world. Few, if any dairy traders will take the risk to sell bulk cream or milk to mainland Europe. The situation is so fragile and volatile some liquid processors are even preparing to dump skim post Boxing Day. Its not looking like a Happy Christmas for those in the thick of it.