DairyCo

MCVE

Published 1 March 10

Milk for Cheese Value Equivalent (MCVE)

• MCVE fell by 0.56ppl from January to 27.47ppl in February.     
• There were falls in the price of both whey butter and whey powder over the period.
• MCVE had a 3.37ppl premium over AMPE in February.

Between January and February, the value of MCVE fell by 0.56ppl (2.0%) to 27.47ppl.  Over the period the price of both whey butter and whey powder fell, by £300/tonne and £56/tonne respectively.  The latter would have been influenced by the increased value of Sterling compared with Euro over the same period.   

Annual comparisons show that the value of MCVE has increased by 2.95ppl (12.0%) from February 2009, when it stood at 24.52ppl.  There is also a 3.37ppl (14.0%) premium in the value of MCVE compared with the AMPE. For more information on AMPE click here.

For information on how MCVE is calculated please see MCVE Helpsheet. 

It must be stressed that different factories will have different efficiency and cost levels and do not just make mild Cheddar. Therefore the MCVE has not been formulated to be the price that processors should pay farmers for milk for cheese, but merely a benchmark of value that can be used to compare against changes in milk prices.