The Global Dairy Trade (GDT) index has recorded a slight increase to continue its upward trend since the start of the year.

After the latest trading event yesterday (Tuesday, March 17), the index increased by 0.1%, reflecting an average price of €3,772 per metric tonne (mt).

The rise in the index is notably smaller than the increases seen since January 6.

In the five GDT index updates (which take place every two weeks) before yesterday, the increases ranged between 1.5% and 6.7%.

The latest increase builds on a 5.7% increase seen in the last trading event on March 3.

A total of 19,500mt of product was sold at yesterday's event.

155 bidders participated in the event, with 98 winning bidders emerging across 17 bidding rounds, which together lasted for two hours and 46 minutes.

The index figure now sits at 1,273, the highest figure since June last year, following a persistent downward trend in the second half of last year before the recovery from the beginning of 2026.

In the last 12 GDT index updates, including yesterday and going back to October 7, the trend has shown an even split: six consecutive occasions in which the index decreased, followed by six consecutive occasions in which it increased.

Looking at the individual product sub-indices after yesterday's trading event, the stand-out figure was a 6.4% increase in sub-index for anhydrous milk fat, reflecting a price of €6,623/mt.

Skim milk powder also performed well, increasing by 5.2% for a price of €2,970/mt.

There were smaller increases for mozzarella (up 0.5% for a price of €3,666/mt) and cheddar (up 0.1% for a price of €4,291/mt).

On the flip side, there was a notable decrease for whole milk powder (WMP), which decreased by 4% for a price of €3,231/mt.

There were also decreases for butter (down 0.9% for a price of €5,983/mt) and lactose (down 0.3% for a price of €1,263/mt).

The sub-index percentage change and price for butter milk powder was listed as 'n.a.' (not available) after yesterday's event.