MD_DA104                                                         
DA                                                               
MD DA104 Butter/Butteroil - Europe                               

MADISON, WI.  August 17, 2017 (REPORT 33)                        

WESTERN EUROPE                                                   
INFORMATION GATHERED  08/07/2017 - 08/18/2017                    
U.S. DOLLARS PER METRIC TON, FOB PORT                            
                                                                 
WESTERN EUROPE                                                   
                                                                 
BUTTER/BUTTEROIL:     

       Butter prices in Western Europe strengthened, including in 
Germany, France and Netherlands. Prices are the highest of 2017 as 
well as 2016. Most activity is related to filling short term butter 
need. Both buyers and sellers are hesitant to get too far ahead. 
Uncertainty as to the duration and dimension of current prices and 
trends persists. Buyers are hoping the upward trend will slow or 
reverse. Sellers believe there is more price strength and don't want 
to get locked into current pricing. With milk production seasonally 
declining in August, this is affecting butter production. Export 
activity is quiet.
	Through May, 2017, butter production in the EU lags the same 
period of 2016 by 5.9 percent according to Eucolait. May 2017 
production is 5.8 percent behind May last year. Among the top seven 
butter producing countries, only Ireland and Italy have January-May 
production above last year, +5.2 percent and +4.2 percent, 
respectively. However, with Germany and France so overwhelmingly 
producing the substantial percentage of butter in the EU and with 
Germany being down 6.6 percent for the first five months this year 
and France down 9.2 percent, increased butter production in countries 
producing far less butter can't overcome the lag of the top two 
countries. 
       The chart below shows the relative contribution of reporting 
countries to EU butter production January-May, 2017. If you are 
reading a plain text version of this report, more visual data will be 
viewable Friday in this week's PDF Dairy Market News Weekly Report: 
https://www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/dywweeklyreport.pdf


 
Data from Eucolait. Chart by USDA Dairy Market News

82% BUTTERFAT:            7,400 - 7,950                          
99% BUTTERFAT:            6,800 - 8,800     

0930c eric.graf@ams.usda.gov 
USDA/AMS/Dairy Market News, Madison, Wisconsin
Dairy Market News website: http://www.ams.usda.gov/market-news/dairy
Dairy Market News database portal: 
http://www.marketnews.usda.gov/mnp/da-home