Global Dairy Trade auction celebrates 100

Global Dairy Trade, the online auction for dairy products, has had its 100th auction. Global Dairy Trade director Paul Grave says the 100th successful auction marks a coming of age for the platform, which is now in its fifth year of trading and passed US$10 billion (€7.5bn) in aggregate sales earlier this year (July 2013).  “Achieving our 100th trading event proves the success of the online model. It shows that Global Dairy Trade has matured to become an essential feature of the global dairy industry. GDT now provides price transparency and highly efficient purchasing for more than 850 registered bidders from 90 countries,” Grave says. “The strong support for the platform shows we are meeting a real market need to find a robust reference price that reflects true levels of supply and demand in the market.”

The platform is now used by six global companies supplying product for sale. This includes Fonterra (New Zealand), Dairy America (US), Amul (India), Arla (Denmark), Murray Goulburn (Australia) and Euroserum (France). A typical auction event lasting around two hours will sell enough product to completely fill a container ship; amounting to around 2,500 standard twenty-foot containers, valued at between US$100 and $250 million (€75-187.2m).

Global Dairy Trade operates at arm’s length from its owner Fonterra. Fortnightly auctions are conducted on behalf of GDT by Boston-based, NASDAQ-listed CRA International in accordance with market rules monitored by an independent advisory board of sellers and buyers. “We are delighted that Global Dairy Trade is today centre-stage of a vibrant global dairy industry which is experiencing annual demand growth of well over 2.5%. We will be seeking to continuously improve our service as technology evolves over the years ahead,” Grave says.