The first Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction of 2016 saw a drop of 1.6% in dairy commodity prices. The average price for product was $2,458/t. The previous GDT index on 15 December 2015 had lifted by 1.9% but it had the same average product price of $2,458/t.

The biggest drop in prices for individual products in auction on January 5 was for New Zealand's trademark product, whole milk powder (WMP), which dropped by 4.4% to $2,210/t. This was followed by anhydrous milk fat, which dropped by 2.7% to $3,644/t. At the last auction, the average price of WMP increased by almost 2% to just over $2,300/t.

In terms of increases, lactose increased the most by 11.4%, followed by butter which rose by 6.7%. Rennet casein rose by 3.9%.

At the last auction, butter led the individual product gains, with the average price increasing by 9% to more than $3,130/t. This was followed by strong gains in the average price of lactose (+6.8%) and anhydrous milk fat (+6.1%).