The strong Middle East buying of SMP was the surprising standout in last night’s  GDT event 330, enough to lift the SMP average price by 7.6% or almost US$200/t, while NZ medium heat product gained 10% to US$2,860/t, a wild US$459/t premium over Arla’s average result, which was even weaker than the EU market in the past week. Chinese and SE Asian buyers hung back in SMP shopping taking historically low tonnages in both cases. That’s the worrying indicator for next time.

WMP edged higher by 1.2% on average, while the Regular C2 price gained $35/t to US$3,055/t after sliding at the previous 5 auctions (including Pulse events). Chinese and SE Asian buyers kept involvement at similar levels to the recent past, while Middle East also lifted sales. Fats improved with moderate gains of near 5%, AMF gaining 5.2% to average US$4,981/t (also helped by a strong Middle Eastern turnout), while butter went 4.9% higher while the C2 price added US$190/t to US$4,750/t

The gain in cheddar was probably a further surprise, after the US cheese market remained in choppy conditions, adding 5.9% to US$4,411/t on average.