Dairy economics | Global Butter Prices Crash 34% in Six Months

ZISK
11 minutes ago
1 min read

Two-year low of $5,169/tonne threatens Australian dairy margins as worldwide production surges following recovery from bird flu and blue-tongue disease outbreaks.

Global butter prices have collapsed 34 percent over six months, plummeting from nearly $8,000 per tonne to a two-year low of $5,169 as worldwide milk production surges and oversupply conditions intensify across major exporting regions. The New Zealand Global Dairy Trade auction recorded a devastating 12.4 percent butter price decline in the past fortnight alone, compounding earlier drops witnessed in European and United States markets. Rabobank senior analyst Michael Harvey attributed the dramatic reversal to recovering global production following easing impacts from bird flu outbreaks in the United States and blue-tongue disease in Europe, while New Zealand’s milk flows simultaneously accelerated. Until recently, butter ranked among the commodities in shortest supply globally, but as production rebounded across multiple regions, processors redirected increasing milk volumes into butter and skim milk powder manufacturing, rapidly lifting supply and overwhelming demand.

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