Fonterra says December was its best month ever for exports with 246,000 tonnes of dairy products loaded on ships topping the 229,000 tonnes exported last March.
The dairy co-operative said the December exports were worth NZ$1.3 billion with Fonterra closing the door on an export container every 2.7 minutes, or 546 containers per day.
Fonterra's trade & operations managing director Gary Romano said a good autumn and mild winter created optimal grass growing conditions leading into the 2011/12 dairy season.
“This helped create a wave of milk up about 10% on a daily basis during the peak flow in late September through to November," Romano said.
“While conditions were good overall, farmers did face extreme challenges including a near nationwide dumping of spring snow and flooding in some regions. (But) our farmers have coped tremendously, not just with bad weather but also the record milk flow which peaked at more than 80 million litres a day,” Romano added.
He said demand for dairy products remained strong with South East Asia, China, the Middle East and North Africa driving export growth.
“Dairy is becoming increasingly important in these markets as people grow wealthier and want access to more nutritious foods,” Romano said.
Fonterra said yesterday prices of dairy products sold in the latest auction through its GlobalDairyTrade platform rose after falls in the two previous auctions.
The dairy co-operative is currently forecasting a 2011/12 season payout to its farmers of NZ$6.90 to NZ$7 per kilogram of milksolids comprising a Farmgate Milk Price of $6.50 per kilogram of milksolids and a distributable profit forecast range of 40-50 cents per share. Fonterra's 2010/11 payout was NZ$7.90, its highest ever.
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