Fonterra milk production down 9% in September

Published 19 October 15

NZ co-op Fonterra has said its milk supply was down 8.7% in September, compared to the previous year. This has resulted in production for the current milk year so far (June-September) being down 5.3%.

The current pattern suggests Fonterra’s forecast for milk production (down more than 5% for the season) will be accurate. As the co-op accounts for approx. 80% of NZ processing, it is likely the drop in volumes will be replicated across the whole country, resulting in overall NZ milk production not only falling below 2014/15 but also 2013/14.

The news comes just before the next Global Dairy Trade auction (20 October). You would normally expect such news to help push prices up again.