Dairy prices, volumes fall at auction – GDT events

(Reuters) – International milk prices and volumes fell at this months first Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction on Tuesday.

The GDT Price Index was down 0.7%, with an average selling price of $3,403 per tonne. The index was down 1.5% at the previous auction held on Feb. 21, when the average selling price was $3,414 per tonne, according to GDT Events.

A total of 26,747 tonnes of dairy products were sold at the latest auction, down about 12.9% from the previous sale, the auction platform said on its website.

The auction results could affect the New Zealand dollar as the dairy sector generates more than 7% of the nations gross domestic product.

The New Zealand milk co-operative, which is owned by about 10,500 farmers, controls nearly a third of the world dairy trade.

GDT Events is owned by New Zealands Fonterra Co-operative Group Ltd, but operates independently from the dairy giant.

U.S.-listed CRA International Inc is the trading manager for the Global Dairy Trade auction, held twice a month, with the next one scheduled for March 21.

(Reporting by Harshit Verma and Rahul Paswan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)