DairyCo

EU Dairy Exports

Published 3 September 10

EU Dairy Exports

• SMP exports in the first six months of 2010 were 88% up on a year earlier while butterfat exports were up by 2%, cheese exports were up by 21%, and lactose exports were up by 8%.

• WMP exports were 6% below 2009 levels, whey powder exports were 2% down while condensed milk exports were unchanged year on year.

Note: All data is subject to retrospective changes.

Source: Eurostat

EU exports in first quarter 2009 were exceptionally low as the world market was affected by recession, but they began to pick up from April onwards. In the first five months of 2010, however, demand was much higher as economic growth revived in Asia and the Middle East while supplies from New Zealand and Australia were limited. EU export subsidies were eliminated in October and November 2009 as world market prices rose.

In 2009, EU SMP exports were 28% above 2008 levels at 227,000 tonnes, the highest for five years, and continued to grow in 2010, with the EU already having exported 145,000 tonnes by the end of May.

In the first five months of 2010, EU butter exports were up by 7% compared to 2009 at 52,000 tonnes, while butteroil exports were 3% lower at 10,000 tonnes. Butter exports in 2009 at 138,000 tonnes were the lowest for 10 years.

Cheese exports have continued to grow in 2010 with demand high from Russia and the Middle East. Exports were 21% up in the first five months of 2010 with exports in May reaching 60,000 tonnes compared to 47,000 tonnes in May 2009.

EU WMP exports were 7% lower than a year earlier in the first five months of 2010 while New Zealand exports increased by 25% with heavy demand from China after the melamine scandal.  New Zealand has continued to invest in WMP capacity.

Whey powder exports fell behind 2009 levels in May but they were unchanged cumulatively for the first five months of 2010. There was a 19% increase in whey powder exports in 2009 compared to 2008, to a record 387,000 tonnes.  High demand driven by China contributed to a sustained recovery in EU prices for whey powder.

The EU also exported 125,000 tonnes of lactose in 2009, up 28% on a year earlier, another record, and lactose exports were 12% up in the first five months of 2010.