Global Dairy Trade (GDT) has announced that it has appointed Charlie Hyland as the independent chairman of GDT’s board of directors.

Hyland, who is the head of dairy and food for Europe, the Middle-East and Africa (EMEA) with StoneX Financial Group, will begin in his role on February 1.

He has worked with the group since 2008 and during his time was “integral to the evolution of the commodity risk management business”, as he led the team in charge of developing these services for the European dairy sector, according to GDT.

“Since joining StoneX, Hyland has been working closely with many of the world’s largest dairy producing, trading and consuming companies, assisting in developing their risk management and trading capabilities.

“As a result, he brings extensive physical and financial commodity risk management experience with him, which is a perfect fit for the strategy that GDT is executing over the next few years,” it said.

Hyland joined the StoneX group, which was the first to rollout financial hedging and risk management services to the dairy industry in EMEA, following his departure from a role in treasury risk management with ABN AMRO bank.

He began working with the bank in 2000, before leaving six years later, in 2006.

“Charlie’s European and financial market experience expertise strengthen the GDT board, and will be invaluable in his role as chair,” the company concluded.

Meanwhile, a 0.1% decrease in the GDT price index was noted at its second event of the year yesterday (January 17).

The average price paid for products at the 324th event reached $3,393/MT, and the average quantity sold was 31,872MT.

The change marks the third fall in the index in a row, following a 2.8% drop at the first auction of 2023, and a 3.8% drop last December.