Jan 7 (Reuters) – International milk prices fell for the first time in two months, while volumes dipped in the latest auction held by New Zealand’s Fonterra Co-operative Group, the world’s biggest dairy exporter.
Fonterra’s GDT Price Index, formerly the Global Dairy Trade-Trade Weighted Index, fell 0.8 percent, with an average selling price of $4,943 per tonne, in the auction held on Tuesday.
The slide followed a 0.2 percent rise in the previous sale, said Fonterra, which is known for brands such as Anchor, Anlene and Fresh n’ Fruity.
A total of 46,418 tonnes was sold, falling 3 percent on the previous auction, the co-operative said on its website (www.globaldairytrade.info).
The auction results can affect the New Zealand dollar as the dairy sector is a major export earner for the country and generates more than 7 percent of gross domestic product.
The New Zealand milk co-operative, owned by around 10,500 farmers, controls nearly a third of the world dairy trade.
