By Sybille de La Hamaide
PARIS (Reuters) - A meeting between Europe's largest dairy group Lactalis and French milk producers, who are requesting price rises, ended in deadlock after 10 hours of negotiations, union leaders and the farm minister's mediator said on Friday.
European milk farmers are struggling with a slump in prices caused by oversupply after the European Union scrapped quotas last year, Russia's ban on Western food imports and weak Chinese dairy imports.
Family-owned Lactalis agreed on Tuesday to renegotiate the price paid to its suppliers after hundreds of milk producers protested at its headquarters in northwestern France, blaming the company for paying less than its competitors.
Producers asked for an average price of 290 euros (£247) per 1,000 litres over 2016, compared to Lactalis's offer several weeks ago of 265 euros, the head of a producers group supplying Lactalis said.
"We couldn't accept the mediator's final proposal which was 280 euros per thousand litres for the last five months of the year," said Florent Renaudier of the FDSEA union. "We're wondering if Lactalis is really committed to working this out."
Renaudier said producers would return to the negotiating table if Lactalis came back with a new price.
The dairy giant currently pays 257 euros per 1,000 litres after a sharp drop in prices earlier this year.
The meeting had begun early on Thursday afternoon and was chaired by the farm minister's mediator.
Hundreds of farmers protested late into Thursday night, parking 200 to 300 tractors in Laval, where Lactalis has its headquarters, awaiting the results of the talks.
They said they were ready to continue the protests if a deal was not reached.
Lactalis mainly produces cheese, milk and butter with brands including Président, Bridel, Galbani and Lactel.
Lactalis, which declined to comment shortly after the meeting, said earlier this week the group faced strong competition elsewhere in the European Union where prices have fallen more steeply than in France over the past year.
In June, raw milk prices paid to producers stood at 27.70 euros per 100 kilograms in France, compared to 23.22 euros/100 kg in top producer Germany, 25.12 euros/100 kg in the UK and 25.00 euros/100 kg in the Netherlands, European Commission data showed.
French Agriculture Minister Stéphane Le Foll said on Monday he would put forward "in the coming days" a wider plan on the implementation of EU measures to limit milk output, which would also tackle price slumps in the livestock and grain sectors.