Milk output profitability in Ukraine grows by over third in July – expert

Economist from the Investment Center of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations Andriy Yarmak says the profitability of milk production in Ukraine in July 2019 grew by 33.6% year-over-year (y-o-y).

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"The Ukrainian Milk Index (UMI) [conditional profitability of milk production] at Ukraine's commercial enterprises was already 33.6% up in July 2019 against the figure reported in July 2018," he wrote on Facebook on August 4.

In addition, the profitability of milk production in Ukraine in July 2019 rose by 2.8% from June 2019 being 23% up against the average figure for July over the last seven years. At the same time, the profitability of milk production in January-July 2019 was 16.4% up y-o-y, Yarmak said.

The conditional profitability of milk production increased due to milk price hikes and a decrease in livestock feed prices, he added.

At the same time, the profitability may increase in August because of the deficit of milk, which can also cause an even greater decline in dairy exports from Ukraine.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukraine saw a 14.1% decline in the profitability of milk production in 2018.

Last year, milk output in Ukraine shrank by 2%, to 10 million tonnes.