The money turnover of foreign trade in dairy products for 11 months amounted to 485.3 million dollars. At the same time, 56.7% of this amount falls on imports, which is 275.1 million dollars; export share - 43.3% USD 210.1 million. As a result, the foreign trade balance is negative, and it only gets worse every month, reaching minus $ 65 million. The negative balance of foreign trade is an unusual feature of this year's national dairy industry, but the reality is that in the coming years we will have to come to terms with it. Despite the sharp change in the trade balance, indicators of trade in real terms still inspire optimism. In fact, in this period, 101.3 thousand tons of dairy products were exported and 83.9 thousand tons of dairy products were imported. The change in the balance was due to the import of large volumes of high-value dairy products, including cheeses, whose imports now exceed twice last year's figures - more than 42 thousand tons in eleven months, with a mass share of 50.3%. The group of milk and non-condensed milk products, 14.1%, came in second in terms of physical volume of imports. The situation is natural, as this group has shown the highest growth rates this year. Currently, 11.9 thousand tons of milk and liquid cream are imported, which is 310% more than last year. In third place in the structure of imports is butter with a share of 11.5% and a total volume of 9.6 thousand tons, which is almost four times higher than last year. However, due to the high cost of butter ranks second in the monetary costs of imports.
The increase in imports of other dairy products is also a common occurrence this year, so in addition to the above products, the supply of milk and condensed cream is increasing to 5.7 thousand tons (+ 165%), ice cream to 1 thousand tons (+ 164%) , whey up to 4.4 thousand tons (+ 79%), casein up to 0.13 thousand tons (+ 82%), fermented milk products up to 8.9 thousand tons (+ 62%).
After a significant decline in export activity in the first half of the year, the second half of the year revived, which made it possible to reduce the gap with last year's figures, but trade was still insufficient and the year will clearly be in the red. A significant contribution to the recovery of exports in general was provided by whey and casein, which from the "minuses" of about 40% at the beginning of the year went to the "plus" at the moment. In particular, 24.7 thousand tons of whey were imported, which is 11% more than last year, and 5.6 thousand tons of casein, + 0.9%. In monetary terms, the growth is even more significant, so whey added 23% and casein 11%. The third and last dairy item, which shows an increase in exports for eleven months, is ice cream. It is the only dairy product that has shown stable growth during the year. It exported 6.6 thousand tons, which is 6.2% more than in the same period last year, while the growth of foreign exchange earnings from it amounted to 8.9%.
Other export positions fell, including key ones. In particular, sales of butter decreased by 40.5% to 10.2 thousand tons, milk powder by 23% to 25.9 thousand tons, condensed milk and cream by 25.2% to 17.4 thousand tons; cheeses by 14.2%, up to 5.5 thousand tons, fermented milk products - by 5%, up to 5.2 thousand tons.
In the structure of exports in monetary terms, the first place belongs to milk powder (25%), the second to butter (21%), and the third to casein (17%).
This year is the saddest in the foreign trade of dairy products. For the first time in the history of independence, the trade balance in dairy products has entered a negative zone. At the same time, the prospect of leaving it is several years, and this is at best and provided that the rate of reduction of cows in the homestead sector will not be so high, and the number of cows among dairy farms will begin to recover gradually.
AMР Analytical Department