The Global Dairy Trade (GDT) index has moved up after the latest trading event today (Tuesday, May 5), following two consecutive decreases.

The index moved up by 1.5% today, the first increase since a slight 0.1% increase on March 17.

These two results were separated by decreases in the index of 3.4% and 2.7% (on April 7 and April 21 respectively).

The index, which is updated every two weeks, now stands at a figure of 1,214, up from 1,196 two weeks ago.

This increase reflects an average price of €3,527/t, with 13,743t of product sold.

167 bidders participated in the trading event, with 92 winning bidders emerging across 19 bidding rounds, which lasted for three hours and six minutes.

Looking at the individual product sub-indices, butter milk powder (BMP) saw a strong performance, with its index increasing by 9% for a price of €2,963/t.

Mozzarella put in the next strongest showing, with the index increasing by 4.7% for a price of €3,427/t.

The lactose index increased by 3.7% for a price of €1,301/t, while skim milk powder (SMP) increased by 3% for a price of €3,032/t.

The other increases were for whole milk powder (WMP), which increased by 2.2% for a price of €3,197/t; and anhydrous milk fat (AMF), which increased by 1.1% for a price of €5,522/t.

There were a couple of decreases for some products though.

Cheddar fell back by 3.6%, for a price of €3,941/t, while butter fell back by 2.6% for a price of €4,722/t.

Whey investment

In other international dairy news, FrieslandCampina, one of the world's "largest dairy companies", has announced it is investing in its whey production network in the Netherlands.

The company said it is expanding its capacity to convert internally sourced whey into premium protein ingredients for performance and active nutrition, early life nutrition, and medical nutrition.

The €90 million investment will see technological upgrades implemented across multiple production sites to support the manufacture of advanced protein products.

The Dutch dairy co-op said "global demand for high-value whey proteins continues to grow across sports nutrition, lifestyle nutrition, and specialised medical applications".