Got milk? The white stuff has been the best-performing commodity of the year, defying the gloom that has resulted in double-digit losses on almost every major stock market.
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Milk futures rose 41 per cent this year to US$18.6 per 100 pounds (about 12 gallons or 45.5 litres) on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, comfortably outperforming many investments traditionally viewed as havens such as gold.
The rise in US milk prices was driven by international demand for dairy products, said Jerry Dryer, the chief economist for Rice Dairy, a commodity brokerage based in Chicago.
"Exports have been very helpful for raising milk demand and prices," he told Bloomberg News.
"Increasing numbers of women in the global workforce are driving demand for protein, much as it did in the 1970s in the US."
The thirst for daily products in emerging markets, such as Mexico, China, the Philippines and Indonesia, is expected to continue growing next year, Mr Dryer said.
American milk has benefited in its competition for these markets against Asian rivals, with tainted milk scandals souring the reputation of Chinese competitors in recent years.
Such fears resurfaced yesterday, as China Mengniu Dairy, the country's largest dairy producer, plunged 23 per cent to HK$20 a share.
The shares fell after an incident in which mouldy and deteriorated fodder was eaten by milk cows in a dairy breeding farm in Meisha. The company said it would reinforce its quality controls.
The company was among dairy producers hit by a similar incident in 2008.
Quality concerns aside, milk has also benefited from a rise in the price of corn, which has gained 11.5 per cent this year to $6.35 per bushel. The price of fattening up herds of dairy cattle has risen with it, pushing up prices of feeder cattle.
US farmers have also culled larger numbers of their dairy herds this year, according to data from the department of agriculture.
About 2.6 million dairy cattle were culled between January and last month, the latest data available shows. That represents a 4.3 per cent increase on the same period last year.
ghunter@thenational.ae
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