Prices in U.S. wholesale markets have further to fall in coming months, and the onset of price recovery may also kick in later, as the local market cycle continues to lag behind the offshore market, according to the latest Dairy Quarterly report from the Rabobank Food & Agribusiness Research (FAR) and Advisory Group.
The report also finds international dairy markets continue to suffer from low prices, though the rate of decline in the price of dairy commodities has slowed compared to that seen in Q3 2014.
Exceptional milk production growth in export regions in the last nine months has outstripped weak local consumption, boosting supply in the international market and forcing prices to fall. However, low prices have succeeded in clearing huge volumes, with trade growth up 15 percent year on year. While Rabobank believes that there are signs of price stabilization, climbing off the market floor may take some time.
“Low prices were required to help clear a market still dealing with exceptionally strong supply growth, a rising U.S. dollar, a weak economic environment and reduced buying from China and Russia,” says Rabobank analyst Tim Hunt.
China has continued to buy far less from the international market than this time last year – with incoming shipments down almost 50 percent in October year-over-year as the country continues to work its way through excess inventory. Meanwhile, Russia’s enforced ban on imports from key suppliers has meant that globally, prices have had to fall by 30-50 percent from their peak, to encourage buying from second and third tier importers, such as South-East Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, to clear the market.
While these markets have taken advantage of discount products, helping to avoid the accumulation of supply-side stocks, the challenge of avoiding stock accumulation will likely become greater in coming months. Much depends on how quickly the world’s dairy suppliers respond to recent price cuts.
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