Market data
Every number has a story.
Markets move because thousands of individual events happen every day. Production changes. Auctions settle. Futures move. Stocks build. Exports accelerate.
Market Data brings together the most relevant public information from across the global dairy industry and explains why it matters.
- We collect it.
- We organise it.
- We explain why it matters.
Market prices
The reference and physical levels contracts are written against.
Weekly quotations
12 Aug 2026- What is it
- The German, French and Dutch commission quotations for butter, SMP, whey and WMP, with our own average of the three.
- Why it matters
- These are the levels northern European contracts are written against, and the sheet the desk works from.
- Updates
- Every week.
European price sheet
9 Aug 2026- What is it
- What every member state reports it paid, week by week, for butter, the powders, whey and the cheeses — published by the European Commission.
- Why it matters
- It is the only price on this page that covers all of Europe at once, so it answers the question the exchange cannot: is your quote in line with the country it comes from?
- Updates
- Every week, about a week in arrears.
US dairy (USDA)
8 Aug 2026- What is it
- The American survey prices — butter, cheddar, nonfat dry milk, dry whey — with their trends and seasons.
- Why it matters
- The US sets the other half of the world price. When the two sides drift apart, trade flows follow.
- Updates
- Every week.
Farmgate milk prices
Jun 2026- What is it
- What sixteen big European dairies actually paid their farmers — FrieslandCampina, Arla, DMK, Lactalis and the rest — recalculated to one standard milk so the lines truly compare, with Switzerland, the US and New Zealand alongside.
- Why it matters
- The farmgate price is the cost side of every product on this page: what the milk in the butter cost before the churn ever turned.
- Updates
- Monthly, about five weeks in arrears.
Global auctions
What buyers actually paid, in the open.
Global Dairy Trade
4 Aug 2026- What is it
- The world's leading dairy auction, run out of New Zealand.
- Why it matters
- It sets the tone for export pricing worldwide, and Europe trades against it.
- Updates
- Every two weeks.
GDT Pulse
11 Aug 2026- What is it
- The smaller auction on the Tuesdays in between — four products, a few thousand tonnes.
- Why it matters
- It tells you whether the last full event still holds, without waiting a fortnight to find out.
- Updates
- Every two weeks, alternating with the main event.
Supply and production
How much milk Europe and the United States delivered, what became of it, and what sits in store.
French milk collection
Week 31 · 2026- What is it
- How much milk French farms delivered, week by week — FranceAgriMer's survey of the dairies, indexed to the 2016 average, back to 2019.
- Why it matters
- France is the bellwether. It is Europe's biggest milk producer publishing fastest, and its collection turns with the season first — the French week often tells you where the continent is heading.
- Updates
- Every week, on Tuesday, about ten days in arrears.
Eurostat
Apr 2026- What is it
- European milk deliveries, production, stocks and trade flows, built up from the member states.
- Why it matters
- The fundamentals underneath the price — the slow numbers that explain the fast ones.
- Updates
- Monthly, around two months in arrears.
US dairy stocks
Jun 2026- What is it
- Monthly US stocks: butter and American cheese in cold storage, plus dry whey and the milk powders at their makers — in tonnes, six years back.
- Why it matters
- Inventory is the other half of a price — dear-and-emptying reads differently from dear-and-full.
- Updates
- Monthly, about a month in arrears.
US dairy production
Jun 2026- What is it
- Monthly US output: the milk itself, and the butter, cheese, nonfat dry milk and dry whey made from it — in tonnes, six years back.
- Why it matters
- Production says how fast the warehouse is being fed — a stock build under rising output reads differently from one under falling.
- Updates
- Monthly, one to two months in arrears.
Trade flows
What crosses the EU border, in which direction, and at what declared value.
EU import & export
May 2026- What is it
- The customs record of the EU-27's dairy trade with the rest of the world — imports and exports by product and partner country, monthly back to 2015.
- Why it matters
- Trade flows are the market's pressure valve. When Europe is short it imports, when it is long it has to find buyers — and the customs record shows both before the anecdotes settle.
- Updates
- Monthly, about 40 days in arrears; checked daily for new months and revisions.
US import & export
Jun 2026- What is it
- The American customs record of the same trade — dairy exports and imports by product and partner country, monthly back to 2015, in kilos and dollars.
- Why it matters
- The United States is the exporter Europe bids against. When American offers chase the same buyers, European ones have to move — and Census files about a month faster than Comext, so it is often the first hard number of the month.
- Updates
- Monthly, about 35 days in arrears; checked daily for new months and revisions.
Cream, inside the EU
May 2026- What is it
- The intra-EU cream record, member state by member state — who ships, who receives, and every from — to corridor with the tonnes attached, in both customs perspectives.
- Why it matters
- Cream barely crosses the EU border; the real trade is tankers between member states. These are the physical legs behind the spot cream market the desk trades every day.
- Updates
- Monthly, about 70 days in arrears; checked daily.
Every figure on this page comes from a published source, credited on the page it appears. We collect it and organise it. We do not own it.
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