Dairy prices continued to stabilise at Wednesday night's globalDairyTrade internet auction, rising just 1.6% compared to the sale last month.
In other trade news, the ANZ Commodity Price Index reached an all time high in November, lifting 4.4% on the back of price rises for 10 commodities tracked by the index.
National Bank economist Steve Edwards said prices rebounded strongly after a lacklustre 2009.
"After being in the doldrums for all of 2009, the series has now leapt 10-fold to sit at a 10-year high."
Fonterra reported the average winning price at Wednesday night's globalDairyTrade auction was $NZ5062 a tonne, which helped push the trade-weighted index which covers all four dairy products offered, 1.6% higher than the previous auction in November.
This follows an almost negligible change in price in recent sales. Butter milk powder was the only product to ease in price over the contract period, falling 2.7%. Anhydrous milk fat rose 0.3%, skim milk powder 0.5% and whole milk powder 2.6%.
Leading the ANZ Commodity Price Index were pelts which rose 32%, but there were also price gains for logs and lamb, which rose 6%, and wool which lifted another 3%.
Beef, wood pulp and dairy products rose 1% and seafood prices lifted by 0.4%Aluminium, 1%, and skim milk powder, 3%, eased slightly while kiwifruit, casein and venison remained unchanged.
The stronger currency blunted those improved prices, restricting the lift to 1.4% in New Zealand-dollar terms.
Meanwhile, Prof William Bailey, the chairman of the Department of Agriculture at West Illinois University in the United States, said the world's dairy industry was watching the impact on prices of China's demand for New Zealand whole milk powder (WMP).
Writing in ASB's commodities weekly, Prof Bailey said New Zealand supplied 85% of China's WMP imports.
"If China slows or stops those imports, there will be a lot of WMP looking for a home with the associated negative impact on dairy prices."
Prof Bailey also said that forecasts of a 3% to 5% increase in New Zealand's milk production this season could be hit by concerns about drought in the North Island.
He said European production for the season just ending was higher, with flows in September 5% greater than the corresponding month a year earlier.
