Cheese trade volume down due to reduced milk supply

The effects of the decreased milk production in Western Europe continue to show in the global trade in Dutch cheeses: the monthly trading volume in January 2022 dropped 7.4% year-over-year, marking the lowest volume for January since 2015. Whilst volumes are at a record low, prices soar to a record high due to scarcity and increasing input costs. At €4.35/kg, January trading prices increased 22.2% year-over-year, that is stated in a recent report from A-INSIGHTS.

Western European exports decline, price increase varies

As is expected, the majority of the export decline is found in the major producers The Netherlands (-9.3%) and Germany (-6.3%). Most notably, the price of German exports increases substantially more than that of exports by the Netherlands. Furthermore, increased exports by New Zealand are noticeable, as raw milk production declined by 3.2% in the final quarter of 2021. This is a comparable decline to both the Netherlands (-3.9%) and Germany (-3.0%), but New Zealand still manages to increase export volumes by 13.7%. Poland utilizes its increased milk production (+0.9%) to further increase export volumes at a substantially higher price than in January 2021.

Imports increase mainly in Southern Europe

Whilst imports by Western European countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium declined in January, Southern European countries such as Spain, Italy, and France increase imports despite the steep price increases. Most notable is the 16.0% increase of Dutch cheeses imported by Spain, whilst the average price increased from €3.28/kg in January 2021 to €4.16/kg in January 2022 (+26.8%). Although still substantially lower than during the export peak in 2020 and the start of 2021, imports by Japan stand out in terms of pricing: at €3.41/kg, the average import price is 21.6% lower than the average trade price of €4.35.

a-insights.eu