NEWS FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE January 2024 13 Prices in dairy commodity market to rise in 2024 According to Rabobank's report titled 'Global dairy quarterly Q4 2023-Shifting to the next phase of the cycle', as 2023 draws to a close, the global dairy market continues to walk a tightrope of limited “new” milk and sluggish demand. Looking back on 2023, it is a story of soft global dairy commodity pricing due to weaker underlying fundamentals. Milk supply growth around the globe was underwhelming in 2023, with a brief return to growth for three consecutive quarters before lower milk prices, elevated costs, and weather disruptions put the brakes back on. The global markets patiently awaited the rebalancing of the Chinese market, only to experience the second consecutive year of large shortfalls in net dairy imports, according to Rabobank. Rabobank forecasts that in 2024, the global market will transition to the next phase of the cycle. There is growing evidence that the bottom in the dairy commodity markets has passed, and the general trend is for prices to move higher through 2024. Milk supply growth will be sluggish in 2024 across most export regions. Stock levels in the export regions are comfortable but not burdensome. This means that international dairy buyers must keep a close watch on supply availability amid structural weaknesses in production growth in some export regions. The New Zealand seasonal flush has passed with modest growth, and markets await seasonal increases from the Northern Hemisphere in 1H 2024. The next phase of the demand story remains key to watch. It’s a complex story of high dairy inflation, broader cost-of-living issues, and weak consumer confidence remaining on the horizon. Sluggish underlying dairy demand and changes in consumer purchases are impacting volumes in some economies and channels. Demand settings are on the mend, but market uncertainty remains due to rising unemployment in some economies. Its ongoing impact on consumer purchasing power will be a watchword for 2024. Read more>> Cal-Maine Foods, Inc., the largest producer and distributor of fresh shell eggs in the United States, announced a definitive agreement to acquire a broiler processing plant, hatchery, and feed mill in Dexter, Missouri, that was recently closed by Tyson Foods, Inc. The company plans to repurpose the assets for use in egg and egg product production. Cal-Maine Foods expects to close the transaction in its third fiscal quarter. Cal-Maine Foods will initially convert the broiler processing plant to an egg-grading facility. The company is excited about the growth prospects of this new operation and, subject to the completion of the transaction, anticipates making additional investments in the facilities and community and creating new jobs. Potential future expansion includes egg product processing capabilities, such as hardcooked eggs. In connection with the acquisition, Cal-Maine Foods expects to enter into agreements with certain of Tyson’s former contract farmers to convert their operations to support Cal-Maine Foods’ cage-free, free-range, or pasture-raised egg production operations. Commenting on the announcement, Sherman Miller, president and chief executive officer of CalMaine Foods, Inc., stated, “We are pleased to announce the proposed acquisition of the assets of Tyson’s former broiler processing facility in Dexter, Missouri." Read more>> Cal-Maine Foods acquires Tyson Foods' shuttered broiler processing assets
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