Ukraine boosts dairy exports by 8.4% in Jan-Aug

Dairy food exports from Ukraine in January-August 2018 totaled 130 million tonnes, which was US$228.3 million in monetary terms. This was 8.4%, or $17.8 million, up year-over-year (y-o-y).

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"Over the eight months this year, Ukraine boosted exports of dairy products to other countries' markets by almost $17.8 million compared to the same period last year. Butter exports worth $92.4 million were in the lead. Condensed milk ranked second ($43.7 million), while casein was third ($30.6 million)," Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine Olha Trofimtseva said, as reported by the ministry's press service.

Over the period under review, Ukraine shipped cheese abroad to the tune of over $20 million, milk whey exports were estimated at $14.1 million, milk and non-condensed cream at $9.7 million, and fermented milk products at $5.7 million.

Major buyers of Ukrainian butter were Morocco ($21.2 million), Turkey ($13.2 million), and the Netherlands ($8.8 million). Cheeses of all kinds and fermented milk products were shipped from Ukraine mainly to the markets of Kazakhstan (over $9 million), Moldova ($5.2 million), and Egypt (2.6 million).

According to Trofimtseva, dairy imports into Ukraine also increased over the eight months to $55.9 million, namely cheese worth $38.3 million, butter worth $4.8 million, and fermented milk products worth over $5 million.

As UNIAN reported earlier, milk output in Ukraine in 2017 totaled 950,000 tonnes, which was 2% up from 2016, according to the State Statistics Service.