Ukraine boosts butter imports by almost 8 times in H1

The Ukrainian Agribusiness Club Association (UCAB) says the country in January-June 2020 (H1) boosted dairy food imports by 2.6 times year-over year (y-o-y), to US$137 million, while butter imports grew by 7.7 times and those of milk and cream rose fivefold.

"The displacement of domestic butter by imported one from the EU (mostly from Poland) is caused by more competitive prices of European products on the market, including due to the existing strong state support for this segment and stimulating export activities in the European Union. Slight reduction (by 2%) in prices of domestic products over the past two months complicates competition with European goods, whose prices plunged by 13%," the Association's press service quoted UCAB analyst Valentyna Kropyvko as saying on July 20.

At the same time, all groups of dairy products saw higher import volumes over the period under review.

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Meanwhile, Ukraine in H1 exported dairy products worth US$87.5 million, which was 32% down y-o-y, the press service said.

Export supplies of all groups of dairy products decreased in the six months. Butter exports slumped most, by 43% (5,400 tonnes down), while those of milk and condensed cream dropped by 36% (7,700 tonnes down).

Therefore, Ukraine saw a negative trade balance in the sector in H1 (-US$49.4 million).

"The market is actively replacing domestic products with imported goods (due to the reduction of livestock and dairy output)," UCAB experts said.

As UNIAN reported earlier, milk output in Ukraine in January-June 2020 shrank by 3.7%, to 4.58 million tonnes.