Butter prices have continued their record highs on the Global Dairy Trade platform, up 2.7% to US$7577/tonne.
That is the highest price recorded for butter since the beginning of the GDT auction platform in 2009 and is equivalent to about NZ$13.50/kg wholesale.
Anchor butter is selling for just under $10 for 500g in New World supermarkets and Westgold 400g is $7.99.
The butter offering volume on GDT was down nearly 40% compared with March in 2024 as Fonterra has already sold forward at high prices in non-GDT channels.
NZX head of Dairy Insights Cristina Alvarado said worldwide production of butter is down and demand and consumption are high.
“European countries are usually sellers of butter, but their prices are even higher than those in NZ, so buyers have turned to GDT,” she said.
Buying demand was strongest from the Middle East, followed by Europe and China.
The GDT price index for the first March auction fell by 0.5% and the price support for butter and skim milk powder, up 0.6%, prevented the index from falling further.
Cheese was also in demand, up 7.9% for mozzarella and 1.1% for cheddar.
The main downsides were whole milk powder down 2.2% and anhydrous milk fat down 0.3%.
NZX dairy analysts said the average price paid for WMP was US$4061/tonne, keeping a solid $4000 floor under the current NZ farmgate milk price forecasts of $10/kg milksolids.
