Photo from UNIAN
Ukrainian enterprises in 2016 exported 109,300 tonnes of dairy products, which was 9% down from 2015, according to the press office of the Ukrainian Food Export Board (UFEB).
Key groups of export staples in 2016 were milk and condensed cream (48%), creamery butter (11%), and cheese (7%).
Condensed milk and cream exports declined by 12% in 2016 from 2015, to 51,900 tonnes. The greatest exporters of these products were Vinnytsia Roshen dairy plant (14% of total exports), Ichnya milk cannery (13%), Vertical freight forwarding company (10%), Bilotserkivska agribusiness group (7%), and Ovruch milk cannery (6%), according to analysts.
Read alsoUkraine almost doubles butter exportsAt the same time, shipments of creamery butter from Ukraine rose by 2.6% in 2016, to 12.100 tonnes. Leading exporters of creamery butter were Vinnytsia Roshen dairy plant (23% of total exports), Agroprodexport (11%), Dominc (9%), Starokostiantynivsky dairy plant (6%), and Adamas (6%), the UFEB said.
Cheese exports shrank by 26% in 2016 from 2015, to 8,100 tonnes. The leading cheese exporters last year were KOMO-Export (27% of total exports), Lactalis-Ukraine subsidiary (16%), Cheese Club company (12%), Bel Shostka Ukraine (9%) and Milkiland-Ukraine (7%).
According to experts, the main importers of Ukrainian dairy products in 2016 were Kazakhstan (16%), Moldova (13%), Turkmenistan (8%), Georgia (7%), Pakistan (5%), Armenia, Vietnam and Bangladesh (4% each), as well as China and Egypt (3% each).
As UNIAN reported earlier, cheese exports from Ukraine fell by 44.5% in 2015 from 2014, to 10,800 tonnes. Export of non-condensed milk and cream rose by 27%, to 8.8 million tonnes, butter exports by 4%, to 11,800 tonnes, and exports of condensed milk and cream by 19%, to 59,000 tonnes, the State Fiscal Service said.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukrainian exports of agricultural products increased by 4.5% in 2016 from 2015, to $15.5 billion. Grain crops, oil, oilseeds, soybeans, sugar and meat were traditionally major export-oriented products in 2016. Key markets were Asian countries (45.9% of exports, $7 billion), the European Union (27.5% of exports, $4.2 billion), Africa (15.7% of exports, $2.4 billion), the CIS countries (7.7% of exports, $1.2 billion), and the United States (0.9% of exports, $45 million), Ukraine's Agrarian Policy and Food Ministry said.