In the three years to 2015-16, average annual import rose to 104,000 tonnes, up 86 percent from 56,330 tonnes in the same time-span till 2009-10, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).
“Industrial demand to make sweets, bakery and ice cream has played a key role in driving consumption,” said Asif Iqbal, executive director for marketing at Meghna Group of Industries.
He said powdered milk prices fell below that of substitutes and the import growth in the last two years has been spurred by promotional activities and low global market prices.
However, the prices are now rising, said Iqbal.
The FAO Dairy Price Index averaged 216.6 points in July, up 3.6 percent from June and 52.2 percent on July 2016. Despite this latest increase, the index is still 21 percent below its peak, reached in February 2014, said the UN agency in July this year.
BBS data showed that powdered milk imports amounted to 105,683 tonnes in the July-May period of 2016-17. Imports shot up 23 percent year-on-year to 1.3 lakh tonnes in 2015-16.
A decade ago in 2006-07, Bangladesh imported only 24,000 tonnes of powdered milk, according to the BBS. Most of it came from Australia and New Zealand, said Iqbal.
Skimmed milk accounts for a majority of the import, said some industry officials.
Bangladesh’s annual average consumption of skimmed milk was 35,000 tonnes in 2013-15. It is projected to increase to 49,000 tonnes by 2025, according to the OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2016-2025.
Average whole milk powder consumption was estimated at 43,000 tonnes during 2013-2015. It is estimated to grow to 60,000 tonnes by 2025, it added.
“Demand is rising as people’s purchasing capacity has gone up. The habit of drinking milk is developing among us,” said SA Mallick, managing director of New Zealand Dairy Products Bangladesh Ltd.
However, Bangladesh still lags behind India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in per capita milk consumption.
Kamruzzman Kamal, director for marketing at Pran-RFL Group, said low customs duty also encouraged the imports of powdered milk, particularly instant formula for babies. “Overall consumption is rising thanks to increasing health consciousness and population growth,” he said.
The use of powdered milk has also risen as a substitute for condensed milk in the preparation of tea and coffee, he added.
Concern of Local Dairy
Imports are rising at a time when local farmers are demanding curbing entry of foreign milk, citing that commercial farming of cattle at home for milk and meat has increased and that higher imports affect the development of the local dairy farming and industry.
Some 72.75 lakh tonnes of milk were produced in 2015-16, up 4 percent from a year ago.
Yet, this is inadequate to meet the annual requirement, estimated at 1.46 crore tonnes in 2015-16, according to the Department of Livestock Services.
“The government should offer increased incentives to encourage dairy farming and local processing so that imports dependence can be reduced,” said Kamal.
Recently, the Bangladesh Dairy Farmers’ Association (BDFA) urged the government to take steps to curb imports.
“Rising imports is the main constraint to the dairy industry. We appeal to the government to establish plants to make powdered milk and take steps to ensure proper marketing of locally produced milk,” said BDFA President Mohammad Imran Hossain at a press conference on July 29.
The number of registered dairy farms rose to 12.01 lakh in 2015-16 from 79,942 in 2010-11.
Source: The Daily Star
Link: http://www.thedailystar.net/business/import-powdered-milk-almost-doubles-1444687
