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Dairy Industry News and Features

Our Weekly News Bulletin is available by email. To receive it please email info@ipmsltd.co.uk.

^{Note, all standard litre prices are those quoted by www.milkprices.com and are based on the following:

The liquid standard litre 4% bf, 3.3% protein, 30,000/ml Bactoscans, 200,000/ml SCC, 1 million litres a year on EODC but before seasonality, monthly profile payments, balancing, B price additions, capital retentions or annual incentive schemes. The manufacturing standard litre is to exactly the same specification with the exception of 4.2%bf and 3.4% protein.}

^{Remember this bulletin continues to be available free of charge and takes the team at Ian Potter Associates considerable time to produce. The only encouragement to keep producing it is a combination of enthusiasm, tag sales & enquiries from our readers.} ^{All views expressed in this bulletin are those of Ian Potter Associates and a shed load of dairy farmers. It is necessarily short and cannot deal with various issues that arise in any detail. As a result it must not be relied on as giving sufficient advice in any specific case. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the content but neither Ian Potter Associates nor Lydia Clare personally can accept any liability for any errors or omissions. Professional advice must always be taken before any decision is reached. For our privacy policy please click here.}

05/03/21

Arla's 13th Payment of 1.576ppl (1.75 Euro Cents/Kg) is confirmed

As expected, Arla’s Board of Representatives gave the thumbs up to the Arla Directors recommendation of an increased 13th Payment from 1 euro cent to 1.75 euro cents. This means that the payment based on the www.milkprices.com standard manufacturing litre equates to 1.576ppl for the 2020 calendar year and based on a liquid standard litre it equates to 1.519ppl.

05/03/21

Milk Price Changes

The only milk processors whose last farmgate price move was down are as follows; County Milk Products, Paynes, Freshways, Medina and Pensworth. If you know others we have omitted, please email Ianpotter@ipmsltd.co.uk. Note there have been no reductions from any mainland GB cheese makers who buy milk direct.

05/03/21

The Dairy Market Outlook

The short and medium term outlook is now more positive for all processors and whilst further price reductions from milk brokers and some middle ground liquid processers cannot completely be ruled out, any who do announce further cuts must surely be challenged as going against the facts and general direction, especially any who are brave enough to suggest any April farmgate price adjustments.

05/03/21

£12.5m Investment Commitment in Cheese Processing by First Milk

The investment will be split between the Co-ops two cheese factories with £9m targeted at its Haverfordwest facility and £3.5m at its Aspatria factory. The combined investment will boost processing capacity by more than 20% at both sites. This latest announcement takes the total capital expenditure to circa £30 million in only 3 years.

03/03/21

Whopping Surprise 21% Lift in GDT WMP Auction Price

Yesterday’s fortnightly GDT auction recorded an unbelievable result with WMP up 21% in only two weeks and the overall all products average up 15%. This was the 8th consecutive auction rise and recorded a 7-year high averaging US $ 4231 tonne. The surge in demand is Chinese driven as the Chinese government continue to push to hold higher quantity of food stocks.

26/02/21

1ppl Milk Price Reduction for Suppliers to Freshways Plus Conformation of No Further Price Cuts and a Future 1.5ppl Increase

Freshways have confirmed a 1ppl milk price reduction from March 1st. This takes producers standard liquid litre price to 26ppl. In addition, Freshways have confirmed that this 1ppl drop will be the last and that by 1st July the standard litre price will increase by 1.5ppl to 27.5ppl.

24/02/21

0.44ppl (0.5 euro cent) Surprise Milk Price Increase for Arla Members will leave competitors scratching their heads

Its not the first time Arla have pulled a rabbit out of the hat and gone in the opposite direction to its smaller competitors. Todays 0.44ppl increase on conventional and organic milk has come as a pleasant surprise to most but an unwelcome one to some other liquid processors who have already announced price cuts. The resulting 1st March member standard litre prices based on www.

24/02/21

Freshways and Medina are Officially in Merger Negotiations

The two middle ground liquid processors have today confirmed they are in detailed (and indeed advanced) merger negotiations subject to approval from the Competitions and Markets Authority. The merger was first suggested on the 5th November 2019 news page of this bulletin. For sure, the merger makes sense for the UK Liquid Dairy Industry, which desperately needs to voluntarily rationalise if it is to stand any chance of a sustainable and profitable future.

24/02/21

The Market Snapshot

www.milkprices.com report delivered spot milk trading in a range 28 to 30ppl down a bit from the 30 to 32ppl the previous week when quantities traded were almost negligible due to a drop in production during the cold snap. The average delivered spot milk price for December came out at 26.53ppl, equivalent to 24ppl (ex farm equivalent). Bulk cream prices continue to firm on a weekly basis which is excellent news, particularly for liquid processors.

24/02/21

Asda extends its cheese commitment to Arla until 2024

More encouraging news from the Arla camp with the conformation that the sole supply cheese sourcing deal with Asda is to continue until at least 2024.

17/02/21

GDT AUCTION RECORDS A NEW 7 YEAR RECORD AVERAGE

This Tuesdays fortnightly GDT Auction rose a further 3.0% to average US $ 3746 tonne and continues an incredible run of 10 increases from the past 11 Auctions since 1st September 2020 covering a 6 month period. All averages for all products increased. WMP increased by 4.3% to average US $3615 tonne Cheddar increased by 2.4% to average US $4268 tonne Butter increased by 2.

15/02/21

Grahams Dairy Scotland (Liquid) to stand on until 1st April

This maintains producers liquid standard litre price at 27ppl. Its an achievement which deserves some credit given Grahams are very much involved in the middle ground and some of its competitors reduced farm gate prices from 1st February.