Fonterra further reduces GDT dairy commodity offering forecast

In a statement, published on the New Zealand Exchange (NZX) Futures website on September 10, Fonterra announced it was reducing its GDT volume forecast for the next 12 months by a further 22,050 tonnes.

Last month, on August 13, it cut its GDT volumes forecast for the next 12 months by 56,045 tonnes.

It planned to cut its offering by 62,930 tonnes over three months, then add on 6,885 tonnes later in the year “in anticipation of changing market conditions.”​

Fonterra now plans to reduce its offering by an additional 15,200 over the next three months and 7,850 tonnes later in the year.

“This further reduction is the result of lower forecast milk supply in New Zealand and a change in product mix away from base milk powders,”​ it said in the statement.

Last week, Fonterra maintained its milk production forecast for the 2015/16 season.​​ 

But with its suppliers "pulling back" ​on production, Fonterra anticipates a negative revision later in the season. 

WMP 'main contributor'​

GDT, established by Fonterra in 2008, is an auction platform for internationally traded commodity dairy products.

Seven sellers – Amul (India), Arla Foods (Denmark), Arla Foods Ingredients (Denmark), Dairy America (USA), Euroserum (France), Fonterra (New Zealand) and Murray Goulburn (Australia) – currently offer products on GDT.

Fonterra offers a wide range of commodity products on the GDT platform, including anhydrous milk fat (AMF), whole milk powder (WMP) and skim milk powder (SMP).

With a decrease of 8,400 tonnes between September and November and a further reduction of 7,500 tonnes between January and March, WMP is the "main contributor" ​to the update.

SMP is the "second largest contributor"​ with a decrease of 6,000 tonnes between October and January. 

It also plans to reduce its AMF offering by 1,150 tonnes between September 2015 and August 2016.