OTTAWA, December 15, 2006 – The Canadian Dairy Commission (CDC) announced today that, effective February 1, 2007, the support price for skim milk powder will increase from $5.8337 to $5.9212 per kg. The support price for butter will remain unchanged at $6.8695 per kg. Support prices are the prices at which the CDC buys and sells butter and skim milk powder to balance seasonal supply and demand changes on the domestic market.
For dairy producers, this increase in the support price of skim milk powder (SMP) should translate into an increase of 0.75 cent per litre (1.06%) for industrial milk used to make products such as yogurt, cheese, butter and skim milk powder. Prices received by producers for fluid milk and cream are determined by provincial authorities by a process independent of this announcement. The new support price of SMP will also include an increase of 0.03 cent per litre in the carrying charges collected by the CDC to pay for the storage of the normal butter stocks. The actual increase to producers may vary slightly depending on the pricing decisions made by provincial authorities using support prices as a reference.
The margin received by processors for the skim milk powder purchased by the Canadian Dairy Commission, and included in the support prices, will remain unchanged.
“I believe that this small increase is appropriate in the current marketplace” said John Core, Chairman of the CDC.
Any market impact of the increase 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. The CDC helps design, implement, and administer policies and programs to address dairy producer and processor needs. 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.
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For more information, please contact:
Chantal Paul
Communications Services
Canadian Dairy Commission
Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0Z2
Tel: (613) 792-2040
Email: paulc@agr.gc.ca
Fax: (613) 792-2009
Web site: www.cdc-ccl.gc.ca