Euro delays Milk Marque price announcement

By FW staff

MILK Marque will announce prices for its January selling round, on contract milk supplies from April to November, early next week.

The announcement will be slightly later than in recent years due to the launch of the Euro.

Industry talk is that Milk Marque will go for a 1ppl rise, but will settle for half that amount, making a standard litre worth 18.7ppl. But the firm would not be drawn on its pricing plans.

“It is sensible to see how the Euro beds in; the milk target price now changes every day,” says a spokesman.

Before the launch, this target price was protected from daily exchange rate fluctuations by the old green rate system. At the end of December, it was worth 22.26ppl. By 4 January it had risen to 22.72p, before settling back to 22.47p by the start of this week.

Milk Marque is expected to offer milk on the same basis as last August – one selling round at fixed prices (no 90% rule), with the rest sold for contract processing or spot.