UFEB analysts forecast further growth of butter exports
The export of butter and milk fat from Ukraine will continue to grow while a stable demand for this product maintains in the world, an analyst of the dairy market of the Ukrainian Food Export Board (UFEB) Anna Burka said.
"The development of price trends in the global dairy market will have a corresponding impact on the situation in Ukraine. In particular, maintaining an active demand for butter and milk fats will stimulate the growth of export volumes of this product," the analyst said.
As previously reported by the Association of Milk Producers, in 2017 Ukraine entered the top five of the world's largest butter exporters. According to Anna Burka, Ukraine will retain these positions, as the export of butter and milk fat from Ukraine in recent years has demonstrated stable growth. In particular, in April of this year, the volume of exports was a record for this month, 1.9 thousand tons against 506 tons in April 2016. Compared with March 2017, exports increased by 17%.
Thus, in January-April 2017, 5.5 thousand tons of butter and milk fat were exported from Ukraine, which is the absolute maximum for this period. The main buyers of this product were Morocco (23% or 4.5 million dollars), Kazakhstan (13% or 2.5 million dollars), Moldova (11% or 2.3 million dollars).
As noted by the analyst of UFEB, the positive price trend in the world market will contribute to the growth of exports. At the end of May, the export prices of New Zealand, the USA and Australia ranged between $ 4,700-5,700 per ton, while in May last year, New Zealand and Australia prices were around $ 2,700/ton, and the US $ 4,500/t.
At the same time, the export of butter from the main supplier countries continues to decline. In the first quarter of this year, the volume of exports of butter from New Zealand decreased by 12% compared to the same period in 2016 (to 117.2 thousand tons), while from the EU - by 27% (to 45.6 thousand tons), from the USA - by 46% (to 5.7 thousand tons) and from Australia - by 56% (to 2 thousand tons).
In January-March, 2017, China and the United States reduced the import of butter by 15% and 31% respectively, compared to the same period last year, to 24 thousand tons and 10.9 thousand tons. In addition, in the EU, the volume of oil imports decreased by 61%, to 2.8 thousand tons. At the same time, Australia continues to increase the volume of imports, which in the period increased by 60% compared to January-March 2016.