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Fonterra has agreed on a partnership with New Zealand’s Exchange (NZX) and the European Energy Exchange (EEX) that will see each take a one-third stake in its Global Dairy Trade (GDT) platform. Founded in 2008 by Fonterra, GDT is a global dairy auction platform and is said to bring together buyers and sellers of dairy ingredients from 70 countries. Fonterra's CEO, Miles Hurrell, said: “This is good news for our farmer-owners, unitholders, and all dairy industry participants and is expected to lead to greater volumes being traded on GDT. It will bring more participants and transactions, stimulating further growth of risk management contracts available on financial trading platforms.” He continued: “We all know that dairy is one of the most volatile traded commodities. This partnership is another step in helping to manage this risk for everyone – from the farmer through to the customer at the end of the supply chain. A more liquid dairy trading environment allows for the growth of financial tools which can be used by all participants to better manage price volatility.” GDT's director, Eric Hansen, said: “The strong alignment of all three shareholding partners to GDT’s purpose of credible price discovery will support initiatives to increase liquidity on GDT, attract new supply from prominent dairy-producing regions and will strengthen GDT’s linkages to financial trading platforms.” The deal is subject to the approval of boards, clearance from European and any other relevant competition law authorities, and the finalisation of transaction documentation. The agreement is expected to be completed in mid-2022.