DCA benchmarks: Liquid commentary week 39

The trend in the liquid dairy market is downward this week, with liquid whey concentrate being the exception and showing a stable trend. Trading volumes remain limited, according to several market participants.The downward movement is mainly driven by selling pressure from processors following production breakdowns in Germany. Underlying market conditions do not appear significantly weaker, with dairy commodity prices generally remaining stable.The DCA Skimmed Milk Concentrate Benchmark decreases by EUR €240 this week to EUR €2,900 per tonne. This widens the price gap with skimmed milk powder slightly, although the difference remains small from a historical perspective.The DCA Liquid Whey Concentrate Benchmark remains stable at EUR €1,425 per tonne. A wide price range is visible in the market, partly depending on the location of the seller's cheese production facility.Raw milkRaw milk prices in the spot market are edging lower. The DCA Raw Milk Benchmark for the Netherlands decreases by EUR €1 to EUR €44.50 per 100 kg. The decline in Germany is somewhat smaller.Trading volumes in the spot milk market remain limited. Processors are generally only willing to sell when bids are comparable to the milk prices paid to dairy farmers. Buyers, meanwhile, are reluctant to pay significant premiums.