Almost three quarters of the skimmed milk powder in public intervention stocks since 2015 has been put back into circulation on the markets, the European Commission noted on Friday 14 December.
Almost 60,000 tonnes of skimmed milk powder were sold at the auction on 13 December. This is the largest sale since the launch of the public auctions in December 2016 (see EUROPE 12134). The tender of 13 December reduced EU public stocks to around 100,000 tonnes (compared to 380,000 tonnes in 2017) and eliminated stocks of milk powder in Poland, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.
The latest EU dairy market reports published by the Milk Market Observatory show increased demand and satisfactory farm gate milk prices, around 36 cents per kilogram. The Commission's prudent stock management has helped to maintain balance in the market, the institution explains. Public intervention, managed by the Commission, played an important role in stabilising markets between 2015 and 2017. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)