At the last meeting of the Milk Market Observatory on 29 April, DG AGRI officials confirmed that European dairy prices have fallen slightly following the unexpected rebound in the 1st quarter of 2015.

Production was down by 1% in the first two months of the year due to a drop in output in 19 Member States. Buyers are holding off in the hope of higher EU milk production levels pushing prices down, DG AGRI officials said. The average farm gate milk price remains stable at around 32ct/kg in Jan-March, but the range between maximum and minimum prices is significant in a number of countries. The forecast for the 2015 calendar year remains modest, with a 1.5% increase expected for the EU.

Commissioner Hogan confirmed his commitment to further improve the observatory and presented the so-called “Dashboard” – a new feature on the MMO website that gathers relevant statistics on the latest production trends, prices, import-export data and information from third countries on one page.