Milk Marque finds takers for 83% of milk

07 September 1998

Milk Marque finds takers for 83% of milk

By Robert Harris

MILK cheques will be bigger from October, following healthy bidding by the trade in Milk Marques August selling round.

But rises will be modest; the co-op suggests earlier estimates of a 0.5-1ppl gain were top-heavy.

There were bids for 11.3m litres a day – 83% of the molk offered on contract, and a marked contrast to the big
dairy companies virtual boycott of the July selling round. Although
Milk Marque cut prices in the August round by 0.7-1ppl, some
observers believed the price was still too high for bulk commodity
manufacturers.

“This marks a turning point for our members,” said Paul Beswick, Milk
Marques managing director. “It has been a difficult summer for the
dairy industry and we are pleased by this positive response from our
customers.”

But he warned: “We need to finalise the marketing arrangements for the
remaining milk and will then be in a position to announce farmer
prices later in the month. Farmers should be planning for a very
moderate increase.”

Most bids were for milk in the cheaper varying supply band, worth
20.5ppl, 1p up on current levels, and the ne- capacity contract,
where buyers contract-process milk for Milk Marque with the option of
buying it at a previously agreed price.

The remaining 2.3m litre surplus will now join the 2m litres a day
already destined for short-term markets.