Feb 4 (Reuters) – International milk prices edged up in the first auction this month, while volumes fell in the sale 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, rose 0.5 percent, with an average selling price of $5,042 per tonne, in the auction held on Tuesday.
The rise followed a 1.4 percent jump in the previous sale, said Fonterra, which is known for brands such as Anchor, Anlene and Fresh n’ Fruity.
A total of 35,399 tonnes was sold, falling 13.7 percent on the previous auction, the co-operative said on its website (www.globaldairytrade.info).
The auctions are held twice a month with the next one due on Feb. 18.
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.
