Synlait Milk has lifted its forecast farmgate milk price for the current season by 15 cents.
Synlait Milk has lifted its forecast farmgate milk price for the current season by 15 cents to $6.40 per kilogram. Photo: 123RF
The speciality dairy producer, which has about 200 farmer suppliers, said it now expects to pay $6.40 per kilogram of milk solids, up from its previous $6.25 forecast.
Synlait chief executive Leon Clement said the increase was due to recovering dairy commodity prices since its last update in January 2019.
"We've seen steady improvements in prices since the start of December, recovering a lot of the ground lost earlier in the season," he said.
Synlait Milk has also revealed its opening forecast milk price for the 2019/2020 season is $7.00 per kilogram of milk solids.
Mr Clement said it was positive about pricing for the upcoming season, but acknowledged that forecasting relied on prices remaining robust throughout the season.
"We think that's realistic in the light of the current slowdown in world supply and strong demand from our key markets.
"But as always, these forecasts are based on the best information available to us and we are recommending that our farmers remain cautious in the face of geopolitical and economic uncertainties. We will continue to assess movements to ensure our dairy farmers are kept up to date," Mr Clement said.
Synlait Milk's final milk price for the 2018/2019 season will be confirmed alongside the annual result announcement in early September 2019.
The forecast for the 2019/2020 season will also be updated at this time.
