Carbery Group has said that its base milk price for February supplies will be the same as the price offered last month.

The group said that, if that decision is replicated across the four west Cork co-ops - Bandon, Barryroe, Drinagh and Lisavaird - this will result in an average milk price of 53.57c/L, inclusive of VAT, a 0.88cpl somatic cell count (SCC) bonus, and FutureProof sustainability bonus.

The processor also said that the FutureProof bonus available for 2025 has increased by 0.25c/L to 1.25c/L.

A spokesperson for Carbery said that demand in dairy markets "remains uneven globally, with butter prices staying high, while cheese is under slight pressure".

"We continue to monitor markets for signs of recovery and opportunities for price optimisation," the spokesperson.

The announcement from Carbery follows on from milk price announcements yesterday (Tuesday, March 18) from Dairygold and Tirlán.

Tirlán announced that it will pay a total of 56.08c/L (including VAT) for February creamery milk supplies at 3.6% butterfat and 3.3% protein.

The price includes a Seasonality Payment of 5c/L (including VAT) that will be paid on all creamery milk volumes supplied in February that meet quality criteria.

It has not changed its base price from January and the decrease in overall milk price for February is in additional bonuses and payments.

Meanwhile, Dairygold announced that its quoted milk price for February has again remained unchanged at 50c/L.

This price is based on standard constituents of 3.3% protein and 3.6% butterfat, including sustainability and quality bonuses, and VAT.

The processor said that the February early calving bonus of 5.26c/L, including VAT, will be paid on milk supplied in February, in accordance with milk quality criteria.

This will increase the attainable Dairygold milk price to 55.26c/L, at standard constituents.

In other dairy news, the Global Dairy Trade (GDT) index is unchanged after the latest auction event yesterday.

The index remains at 1,251, which reflects an average price per metric tonne (mt) of dairy product sold of €3,888/mt.

The value in euro is converted at a rate of around 91.6c per US$1.