Strong dairy exports continue through COVID-19

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Strong dairy exports continue through COVID-19

The U.S. Dairy Export Council says record sales of cheese during June and strong sales of other dairy ingredients helped support double-digit growth for the first six months of the year.

Dairy Management Inc. CEO Tom Gallagher says exports made up 17 percent of milk production in June, partly because of the industry redirecting efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The export council pivoted knowing we were going to have difficulty in Mexico, the state and regionals pivoted when they saw that the foodservice opportunities were going to become far less.”

Shipment volumes were 28 percent higher than 2019, totaling more than 206,000 tons in June, with values up 22 percent to more than $583 million.  Sales for the first half of 2020 were up 13 percent in value and 14 percent in volume.   

Cheese exports were up 29 percent and the most ever as buyers locked in sales during historically low prices in April and May.

Nonfat dry milk/skim milk powder exports were up 77 percent from last year with increased sales from Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. 

Whey exports were eight percent higher than 2019 with continued demand coming from China which was up 79 percent.  Dry whey exports were up 42 percent.  Shipments of lactose were down four percent while fluid milk/cream exports were 17 percent higher.

Other gains were seen in milk protein concentrate (+28%), butterfat (+15%) and food prep/blends (+17%) while whole milk powder (-2%) exports were down in June.

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