Agriculture Minister David Carter cannot assure New Zealanders they are not paying too much for milk despite a report this morning which found retail and wholesale markets were competitive enough not to require price controls.

The Commerce Commission has ruled out price controls for the nation's domestic milk, saying enough rivalry exists between the two main supermarket chains while for wholesale milk, Fonterra and Goodman Fielder compete for supplies.

The price of butter and cheese will drop next month in line with falling international dairy prices - but milk will stay the same.

A major US dairy company, which markets products for four co-ops will start selling products through Fonterra's online dairy auction system from October.

Average prices of dairy products fell to their lowest level since early December in Fonterra's latest online auction, adding to evidence the steam in coming out of global commodity prices.

Fonterra has named Dutch dairy executive Theo Spierings as its new chief executive.

Should we be worried that the commodity spike of the past few months has peaked?