Figures released by the New Zealand-based commodity exchange show a 9.3% drop in the average price of dairy products since the last auction on 15 July. This is the tenth consecutive decrease and one of the sharpest falls this year, with the last positive move observed in March.

After several months of low volumes, the quantities traded on Tuesday were back in line with those observed at the same time last year, at 46,527t (48,380t on 5 August 2014). Interested bidders, however, remained scarce: only 152 took part, compared with 178 last year.

Milk powder was the commodity most affected by price drops, with skimmed milk powder down 14.4% and whole milk powder 10.3%. The price of butter fell by 6.1%.

Only cheddar showed a moderate increase of 0.2%, thanks to increased interest in December 2015 futures.

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