In the second quarter, milk production/delivery from the five major suppliers (EU-28, United States, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina) was up approximately 2.0 percent from last year. EU-28 deliveries were up about 2.1 percent, led by a 12-percentgain from Ireland and a 6-percent gain from the Netherlands. Meanwhile, U.S. production was up 1.4 percent, New Zealand was up 9.2 percent, Australia was up 1.4 percent and Argentina was estimated to be up 2 percent.
Despite rising global milk production, exports from the major suppliers slowed in the second quarter. Shipments of milk powder, cheese, butterfat and whey in the second quarter were down 4 percent compared with a year earlier. EU-28 shipments were off 1 percent, U.S. exports were down 10 percent, New Zealand was down 9 percent and Argentina was down 1 percent. This was offset slightly by a 17-percent increase from Australia.
Source: USDEC