Prices on Fonterra’s global dairy trade platform dipped slightly in its latest online auction.

The average price across the four products fell 1.3 per cent to US$3591 per tonne, down from $3663 three weeks ago.

Anhydrous Milk Fat and Butter Milk Powder firmed slightly, while both skim and whole milk powder prices eased.

Fonterra globalDairyTrade Manager Paul Grave says the result reflects some welcome stability for the market.

“It shows a reasonable balance between supply and demand at the moment, and reflects a perception that Australia and New Zealand will have some surplus product come the end of the year.

"It’s quite a vanilla result, but it’s that stability that we want in an instable market.”