Vreugdenhil joins the list of companies maintaining prices for March

Vreugdenhil Dairy Foods joins the growing list of companies maintaining their milk price for the month of March. Virtually all dairy companies in the Netherlands, and so far also in Belgium, are keeping their payout prices steady. Only Lactalis Leerdammer has reduced so far. The stabilization of the payout price is related to a (sooner than expected) shift in the dairy market, which started several weeks ago and is now slowly but surely becoming a trend. The recovery is primarily evident in the market for solid dairy products. The liquid market remains challenging. For many companies, it is still too early to raise prices again. In recent months, many companies have paid out more than they received, so there is a gradual recovery of margins. Nevertheless, the market does not look bad for now, even despite the war around Iran. For instance, the prices recorded this week at the GDT-Pulse auction remain at a good level. Skimmed milk powder from Europe brought in again well over €2,600 per tonne. This is generously above the long-term average and has only been exceeded for an extended time in 2022 - when Russia invaded Ukraine. However, there remains uncertainty about how long the international market for solid dairy products can sustain the current level. Vreugdenhil Dairy Foods takes a middle position with the current standard milk price among the various processors, as indicated by the DCA farmgate milk price calculator for the Netherlands and Belgium. This is also the case for the organic milk price, but this is partly because at some processors the milk price is now additionally falling due to the effect of seasonal premiums.