European Milk Prices Continue Downward Trend Amidst Market Volatility
The European dairy market has experienced a prolonged period of price decreases, with the tenth consecutive drop recorded in April 2026. According to ZuivelNL, a Dutch dairy organization, the average milk price across Europe was €39.76 per 100kg of milk solids in April, marking a 1.08% decline from March and a sharp 21% fall from April 2025.
In Ireland, base milk prices have followed the broader European trend, decreasing from an average of 48.63c/L in June 2025 to 34.3c/L by December 2025. However, April prices have shown some stability, averaging 37.24c/L without further cuts from processors.
Despite this stability, Irish milk prices remain below the European average. For instance, Irish co-op Tirlan offered €36.97 per 100kg, while Dairygold and Kerry Agribusiness posted slightly lower base prices of €36.26 and €36.81 per 100kg, respectively. Notably, Kerry Agribusiness included an additional supplement of €2.79 per 100kg in the first quarter of 2026.
Across Europe, Finnish dairy company Valio provided the highest base price of €43.11 per 100kg, although this represented a €3.40 decrease from March. In contrast, Caspa Foods implemented the largest reduction, slashing prices by €7.44 per 100kg and halving their monthly surcharge from €7.77 to €3.88 per 100kg.
On a broader scale, milk supply in the EU increased by 4.5% in Q1 2026, with significant contributions from Poland and Western Europe. Ireland's milk collections also rose by 1.6% compared to 2025. Globally, countries like New Zealand and Argentina saw notable supply increases of 9.7% and 7.9%, respectively, contributing to a 4.1% rise in total global export supplies.
Butter prices have also fluctuated significantly in recent months. After declining to €4,360 per metric tonne in December during Global Dairy Trade auctions, prices rebounded to €5,975/MT by March. However, another slump occurred in May, with prices falling to €4,722/MT before recovering slightly to €4,924/MT by early June.
