Wellington, July 2 - International dairy prices have fallen for the third month in a row, New Zealand's Fonterra Cooperative Group Ltd said on Thursday.
Fonterra, the world's biggest dairy exporter, said the average selling price for whole milk powder in an Internet auction was $1,829 a metric tonne, down 3 percent on a month ago.
That compared with a 12 percent fall in June.
The auctions offer a one-month contract with delivery starting two months after the auction, and two three-month contracts with three- and six-month delivery dates. The next auction will be held on August 4.
On May 27 Fonterra lowered its forecast payout to dairy farmers by 12.5 percent to NZ$4.55 a kilo of milk solids in the 2009/10 season, because of weaker commodity prices and a higher New Zealand dollar.
It paid a record NZ$7.90 a kilo in the 2007/08 season, and is expecting to pay NZ$5.20 in the current season.
Dairy products account for around a quarter of New Zealand's export earnings, which touched NZ$43.4 billion ($27.8 billion) in the year to May 31.
Fonterra is owned by nearly 11,000 farmers and controls about a third of the world's dairy exports. It generates more than 7 percent of New Zealand's gross domestic product and has annual sales of around NZ$17 billion. ($1=NZ$1.56)