DairyCo

EU Dairy Product Production

Published 26 January 12

Year to date EU deliveries were 2.0% up in November 2011 on the same period in 2010.  Growth is mainly being fuelled by production increases in key milk producing countries located in Western Europe.  According to Eurostat, year to date November milk supplies were up by 5.3% in France, by 4.8% in Ireland and by 2.4% in Germany over the same period last year.  This leaves some of these countries vulnerable to super levy fines if production growth is not curtailed in the last quarter of 2011/12.  Growth in Western Europe however has been off-set by lower production growth and production declines in some key milk producing countries in both Southern and Eastern Europe.

Additional milk supplies of 2.47 million tonnes for the first eleven months of 2011 went mainly into manufacturing - in particular, SMP, butter, cheese, cream and fermented products.  SMP production rose by 112 thousand tonnes (12.4%) on the same period in 2010, butter production rose by 36 thousand tonnes (2.1%), cheese production was up by 10 thousand tonnes (0.1%) and fermented products were 17 thousand tonnes (0.2%) above production in the first eleven months of 2010.

Liquid milk production was marginally higher than in 2010, although 1.9% up in the UK (which accounts for 23% of EU27 liquid milk production) for the first eleven months of 2011.  This is believed to be largely as a result of increased domestic demand fuelled by a rise in population rather than an increase in per capita consumption.  Cheese output growth has slowed in 2011 with prices fairly static and production consequently diverted into powder and butter production to take advantage of high prices.

In the calendar year 2010, butter production was 1.3% down on 2009 levels and SMP (excluding partially skimmed powder) was 11.4% lower, which helped to keep commodity markets tight.  More milk went into cheese and fermented products production, absorbing much of the increase in milk supplies.  A recovery in demand, both internally and for export, resulted in cheese production being 3.1% higher than in 2009.  Fermented products production rose by 1.9% in 2010 compared with a year earlier. 

* Provisional figures
**Excludes processed cheese
WMP includes partially skimmed milk

All date is subject to retrospective adjustment

Source:  Eurostat, DairyCo