Prices have steadied this month on Fonterra’s global dairy trade auction, falling 0.8% across the three commodities.

Anhydrous Milk Fat was the only improver, jumping 4.4% to an average US$5020 per tonne across all contracts.

Whole Milk and Skim Milk Powder dipped just over 1% in price each. Whole Milk Powder was US$3932 per tonne FAS. This was US$37 per tonne lower than the April event. Skim Milk Powder was US$3612 per tonne, US$60 per tonne lower than the April event.

Global dairy trade Manager Paul Grave says after a price jump in April, it’s encouraging to consolidate at this higher level. He said the outlook remained positive. The result reflected both strong demand and constrained supply in the short term.

This month’s auction was also the first to use a Trade Weighted Index to measure average prices changes to traded products.