Dairy Market News to May 15, 2012 Â
Dave Brown, R.A. Chisholm Ltd., Global Dairy & Meat Traders  Â
AUSTRALIA
MURRAY GOULBURN AXE 300 JOBS – Source: Dairy Industry Newsletter May 12, 2012
Australia's largest dairy group Murray Goulburn is cutting 300 jobs, 12% of their workforce, in a move they say will help them to compete internationally. Of those to be made redundant, 168 staff will be from processing and distribution sites and 59 from head office. A further 74 will be lost through natural attrition, the company said. Managing director Gary Helou said the restructuring could cut company costs by $100m this year. He said that falling world dairy market prices had forced them to act.
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USA
KERRY CLOSE WAUKESHA PLANT – Source: Dairy Industry Newsletter May 15, 2012
Kerry Flavor Systems US is to close their Waukesha plant and lay off about 40 staff. The company, who manufacture paste and powder dairy flavors, will move production to existing facilities in Owen and Jackson. Kerry acquired Cargill Flavor Systems in December and the Waukesha facility was formerly operated by Cargill. This closure is part of the due diligence process, the company said. The plant is expected to close by the end of the year.
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NETHERLANDS
AUCTION SETS RECORD SALES – Source: Dairy Industry Newsletter May 15, 2012
The Dutch-based Dairy Auctions Online this week set new records for product sales and cash receipts: 1,221t of product sold and total realizations of €2.17m. A total of 154t of Dutch Gouda averaged slightly lower again at €2,620/tonne; 176t of German Emmental was also lower at €2,980/t; 357t of Polish sweet cream butter was 3% higher than last week at €2,320/t; 465t of whey powder also averaged slightly higher at €801/t and 69t of acid whey powder averaged €643/t.
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ITALY
PARMALAT REVENUES TOP 1bn – Source: Dairy Industry Newsletter May 14, 2012
Italian dairy company Parmalat, now owned by Lactalis of France, have reported net revenue up 5.9% to €1.0bn and EBITDA up 7% to €75.1m. Net profit for the group, however, fell 33% to €33.4m, with subsidiaries paying lower dividends. "For 2012, at constant exchange rates, growth estimates of about 3%, already foreseen both for net revenues and EBITDA, are confirmed," the company said in a statement. Before they went bust at the end of 2003, Parmalat reported revenues close to €8bn.
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WORLD
RABOBANK REPORT-FARMERS NEED TO CUT MILK PRODUCTION - Source: Dairy Industry Newsletter May 14, 2012
In their latest market report, Rabobank said this week that most international dairy commodity prices had continued to trend lower in US dollar terms during April, with falls of 8%-10% for all products. Strong milk production continues to weigh on commodity markets, with output tracking well above year ago levels in all major exporting countries. In the latest month, milk production was up 3.9% in the EU-27, 4.2% in the US, 9.8% in Argentina, 2.9% in Australia—and was up 10% for the 11mths to April in NZ. But Rabobank said milk producers in most parts of the world had not yet seen milk prices fall to signal that slow production growth was now required.
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