UK – Troubled processor United Milk has made a statement of intent by raising its milk price for direct suppliers to 19 pence per litre (27 cents).

The move is sure to please its suppliers, but whether the price is sustainable remains to be seen.

The dairy farmer co-operative, which has courted the possibility of redundancies and altered repayments on bank loans in a bid to keep its head above water, confirmed the rise in a bid to maintain its policy of returning market related prices to its suppliers.

Stable product markets and a weakening pound against the resurgent euro are cited as the key reasons for United making the change.