Thursday’s auction continued the pattern of auctions held at the start of the season with buyers not prepared to meet sellers’ offer prices.
Milk sold at only one of six auctions held in May-June last year.
The exchange was launched in 2020, offering farmers the opportunity to directly sell milk to buyers, through a platform where offers to buy and sell are listed.
The auctions offer the opportunity for buyers to compete and bid on offered milk.
At the Milk Exchange’s seventh trading event on Thursday, milk suppliers offered 20.2 million litres of farm milk.
The average contract size was four million litres with two contracts for next season (F23), two contracts offering back-half milk and one contract for 7.5 million litres for 16 months starting March 1.
The average offer price from milk suppliers was $8.59 a kilogram milk solids in Victoria.
There were 46 participants in the event but buyers submitted no bids.
The Milk Exchange said supplier expectations were high at the first event, targeting tight supply and high demand from processors for the second half of the season.
“Although, there was significant buyer interest in the lead up to the auction, no buyer was prepared to offer a counter bid to the milk prices on offer,” it said.
Further auctions are scheduled for February 9 and 23.
