Milk powders were the worst performers in this unremarkable event which took the index down 1.3%, the 5th successive loss. Chinese buyers resumed a dominant role in both powders, but it wasn’t enough to overcome some pushback and evidently weaker demand from other regions.

SMP fell by US$59/t to average US$3,356/t, with heavier losses in earlier deliveries offset by small losses later. The Fonterra MH result was similar. C2 lost US$90/t to US$3,445/t while European SMP did worse on average to lose US$106/t (in simple average) while US product (only C3) was unchanged at US$3,280/t. WMP had a similar overall result, losing US$65/t to US$3,997/t, with losses across contracts that were milder later. Regular product C2 WMP lost US$115/t to US$4,045/t, retreating to its weakest since the 2nd Feb-21 event.

Fats prices were mixed. Butter lost US$78/t or 1.7% to average US$4,612/t, with consistent losses across contracts. C2 lost US$100/t to US$4,605/t to leave the worst outcome, but the forward curve has rarely been flatter – with only a US$15/t spread across all 6 contracts. AMF lifted $33/t on average to US$5,687/t. C2 improved US$50/t to US$5,850/t, but someone had an urgent issue, lifting C1 by US$269/t above US$6,300/t.

There was cheddar sold for C3 to C6 at this event for an average of US$4,328/t, up US$4/t on the previous event. The results worsened with later contracts, but the result flattened the curve to just above US$4,300/t.