MD_DA124                                                         
DA                                                               
MD DA124 Butter - Oceania                                        

MADISON, WI.  August 31, 2017 (REPORT 35)                        

OCEANIA                                                          
INFORMATION GATHERED  08/21/2017 - 09/01/2017                    
U.S. DOLLARS PER METRIC TON, FOB PORT                            

BUTTER:     

	Butter prices in Oceania are steady to slightly lower. Buyer 
resistance to higher prices stepped in to drop upper price range 
prices. While some smaller spot buyers continue to work to secure 
stocks, most larger volume buyers are not in urgent need to restock. 
That, coupled with the absence of any GDT activity this week to 
influence markets, shaved a bit off the top. Observers do not see this 
as a trend, only market fluctuation for this period.                                                   
       New Zealand butter exports January-July, 269,000 MT, decreased 
7.6 percent from the same period last year, according to CLAL.
       China, historically a significant butter importer from Oceania 
(two of the top three origin countries), has increased butter imports 
this year. January-July China butter imports, 41,802 MT, increased 1.3 
percent from the same period one year earlier, according to Eucolait. 
January-July, the range of monthly percentage changes year to date in 
cumulative import volumes is from -29.9 percent in January, to +2.0 
percent in June. 
     Import volumes and primary origins are shown in the following 
table:
 
                       China Butter Imports
                       Main Three Origins 
                       January-July 2017 
 
Origin                 Quantity (MT)   Percent of Total  
New Zealand             35,090           83.9 
France                   3,469            8.3 
Australia                1,467            3.5

       There are no GDT event results this week as this is one of the 
occasional periods with three weeks between events. The next event 
will be September 5.

82% BUTTERFAT:                           5,700 - 6,450    

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