Pursuits
Fonterra Maintains Milk Price Forecast Despite Kiwi Strength
- Forecast of NZ$4.25 per kilogram still close to 9-year low
- ‘It is another financially challenging season for farmers’
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Fonterra Cooperative Group Ltd., the world’s biggest dairy exporter, maintained its forecast milk payout for the current season even as a strong New Zealand dollar hurts its global competitiveness.
Auckland-based Fonterra on Monday kept its estimated farmgate milk price at NZ$4.25 ($3.06) a kilogram of milksolids for the season ending May 31, 2017 -- a small improvement on last year’s NZ$3.90 a kilogram, which was a nine-year low. The company predicted earnings per share of 50-60 NZ cents, taking the total payout available to farmers to between NZ$4.75 and NZ$4.85 a kilogram.