OTTAWA, December 2, 2011 – The Canadian Dairy Commission (CDC) announced today increases in the support prices for butter and skim milk powder that will be effective February 1, 2012. The support price for butter will increase from $7.1922 to $7.2810 per kg and the support price for skim milk powder will increase from $6.2721 to $6.3673 per kg. Support prices are the prices at which the CDC buys and sells butter and skim milk powder to balance seasonal demand changes on the domestic market. They are also used as references by provincial marketing boards to price industrial milk used to make products such as yogurt, cheese, butter and skim milk powder.
For dairy producers, this increase in the support prices should translate into a revenue increase of 1.5% or $1.14 per hectolitre1 for industrial milk. Prices received by producers for fluid milk and cream are determined by provincial authorities through a process independent of this announcement. The overall increase to producers may vary depending on the pricing decisions made by provincial authorities.
“Our data show that the cost of producing milk in Canada has increased by 2.2% over the last 12 months” said Randy Williamson, Chairman of the CDC. “In particular, the cost of feed increased by almost 10% and the cost of fuel, by over 20%. This 1.5% increase in support prices is about half of the current inflation rate for food” he adds.
The new support price of butter will also include a reduction of 2 cents per hectolitre in the carrying charges collected by the CDC to pay for the storage of the normal butter stocks.
The margin received by processors for the skim milk powder purchased by the Canadian Dairy Commission will increase by 12 cents per hectolitre to take into account rising processing costs.
The impact of this increase at the retail level will be influenced by many factors such as manufacturing, transportation, distribution and packaging costs throughout the supply chain.
The Canadian Dairy Commission, a federal Crown corporation created in 1966, is a key facilitator within the Canadian dairy sector. It is mandated to provide efficient dairy producers with the opportunity to get a fair return on their labour and investment, and to ensure that Canadian consumers are provided with adequate supplies of quality dairy products. The CDC helps design, implement, and administer policies and programs to address dairy producer and processor needs.
- 30 -
For more information, please contact:
Chantal Paul
Communications Services
Tel: (613) 792-2040
Email: chantal.paul@cdc-ccl.gc.ca
Web site: www.cdc-ccl.gc.ca