Global Dairy Trade events

Updated 5 May 2026

Global Dairy Trade (GDT) events take place twice a month, trading dairy commodity ingredients. Here you will find key results from the latest event.

• The overall GDT Price Index increased by 1.5% from the previous event
• The weighted average price was $4,127 per tonne
• 13,743 tonnes of product was sold, mostly WMP and SMP
• Next auction: Tuesday 19 May 2026

Table 1. GDT event prices: all products

Source: Global Dairy Trade Holdings Ltd.

Figure 1. Global Dairy Trade events: Total quantities sold (all products)

Source: Global Dairy Trade Holdings Ltd.

Figure 1 shows how the total volume of dairy products sold on the Global Dairy Trade platform rises and falls in a repeating pattern over three years.

Sales move between roughly 15,000 and 40,000 tonnes, with regular peaks every few months followed by noticeable drops. The volume traded has been on a downward trend to 13,743 tonnes as of 5 May 2026.

Figure 2. Global Dairy Trade events: Weighted average prices

Source: Global Dairy Trade Holdings Ltd.

Figure 2 shows weighted average prices for four dairy product categories (all products, butter, skimmed milk powder (SMP), and whole milk powder (WMP)) from May 2023 to May 2026. Prices are shown in US dollars per tonne and show a rising trend as at 5 May 2026, for SMP, WMP and the All products average and a decline for butter.

This dataset was produced by our Data and Analysis team.

If you need any further help please email the team at datum@ahdb.org.uk

• GDT events are held on the first and third Tuesday of the month
• Six contract periods are made available, which correspond to future delivery periods
• The % change refers to the change in GDT price indices between auctions, not changes in the average weighted price. This gives a more accurate reflection of price movements than using simple weighted average prices because it takes into account changes in available volumes
• Average prices reflect the weighted average winning price in US dollars per tonne
• Quantity sold is the total tonnage sold in a trading event across all products, contract periods, and sellers
• n.a. indicates no quantity was offered or sold in either the current event and/or in the prior two events. It may also mean the prices published for individual products within a group were insufficient for the Price Index to be calculated

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