AHDB publish review of dairy market indicators

Thursday, 18 September 2025

The dairy market indicators are reviewed approximately every five years to reflect changes in milk composition, processing efficiency and costs. The 2025 review was conducted by dairy industry specialist, Dr Ken Burgess.

Dairy market indicators

The Actual Milk Price Equivalent (AMPE) and Milk for Cheese Value Equivalent (MCVE) are published every month by AHDB.

They provide a general estimate of the market and can be used to identify trends. 

See published AMPE and MCVE data

Key changes

The milk composition used in calculations has been updated. It's now based on the 2024/2025 standard litre, at 4.25% fat and 3.40% protein. Previously, calculations used 4.10% fat and 3.35% protein.

Processing costs have reduced across all products, reflecting changes in efficiency and productivity.

For skimmed milk powder (SMP), lactose addition has been amended to 93kg per tonne, up from 85kg. This reflects the higher protein in milk.

The method for valuing whey butter has changed from a fixed discount (£300/tonne) to a percentage discount (5%) of the butter price, making it more responsive to market movements.

Looking ahead

The review highlighted future developments, including the potential to include mozzarella in MCVE calculations.

This is due to the increasing volumes of milk going towards mozzarella manufacturing.

Overall, the changes result in slightly higher calculated values. Based on June 2025 market prices, the new AMPE figure was calculated at 45.3ppl.

This compares with and AMPE figure of 42.6ppl using the previous standards and figures.

Further information

Use our AMPE and MCVE calculator

The AHDB summary and full report are available in PDF format. Please contact the dairy market intelligence team at dairy.mi@ahdb.org.uk

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Topics:

Business Benchmarking Market Insight

Sectors:

Dairy

Tags:

Weekly Market Report
Image of staff member Susie Stannard

Susie Stannard

Lead Analyst (Dairy)

E: Susie.Stannard@ahdb.org.uk

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