Half of the EU's skimmed milk powder bought into public stock since 2015 has been put back into the market without jeopardising its functioning and the recovery of the dairy sector.
The latest tender sale of 30,000 tonnes took place on 8 November, according to the European Commission. 190,000 tonnes of skimmed milk powder (SMP) remains out of 380,000 tonnes. The next tender will take place on 22 November.
The latest EU price report for the dairy market published by the Milk Market Observatory this week shows improvements in prices both for milk and skimmed milk powder.
Public intervention, managed by the European Commission, played an important role in stabilising markets between 2015 and 2017, helping to remove surpluses in an extraordinarily imbalanced scenario.
The Commission opened at the end of 2016 a process of monthly and later bi-monthly public tenders to gradually put these stocks back into the market.
Agriculture and rural development Commissioner Phil Hogan said: “The benefit of our cautious approach is paying off. Market balance is always our priority. It is encouraging to see an improvement in farm gate milk prices again, helped by the measures the Commission has put in place.
“There is, however, no place for complacency and prudential production decisions must continue to be made by reference to the realities of market conditions,” he said.
EU SMP prices have been fluctuating below intervention level (169.8 €/100 kg) for the past twelve months. The situation has been slightly improving since May 2018.
