In April 2017, DAIRY product prices were 12.5% higher compared to same period last year (April 2016), according to AGRIndex. Despite that, milk prices have been decreasing for the last three months, and were 9.9% lower in April 2017 than the corresponding figure in January 2017. The price of cheese followed the same trend — it dropped (even more) by 23.6%. On the other hand, if we look at the same period, butter prices stayed almost unchanged, while matsoni prices were on rise starting in March 2017.

Milk price dynamics for the last few months (-5% to -6% month-to-month) were determined by its seasonal nature - in spring, the lactation period enters an active phase and the supply of milk increases. However, year-to-year changes in dairy product prices have been positive since December 2016, and reached the highest value in April 2017 (+12.5%). This is in-line with Geostat’s data (+10.8%).

There could be various reasons for the year-to-year change: the possible increase in demand on milk products produced via natural milk (demand side); on the supply side, the start of lactation period was delayed this year because of the long winter. All these factors might have contributed to higher DAIRY prices compared to the same period of last year (see chart).