The Milk Market Observatory (MMO) in Brussels has confirmed that Ireland is now the EU’s leading exporter of butter to third country markets. Dairy trade with Britain is also classified as third country business since Brexit.
The four countries with the highest level of butter exports outside of the EU are Ireland, France, Denmark and the Netherlands.
Ireland exported 66,000t of butter outside of the EU in the period from January to November 2021. Almost 22 000t of this was to the UK. France had the next highest level of non-EU exports with 39,000t, while Denmark had 26,500t and the Netherlands 24,000t.
Ireland was ranked fourth in 2021 cheese exports. Germany exported almost 190,000t to non-EU markets, with the Netherlands next on 180,000t and then France on 157,000t.
Ireland exported 147,500t of cheese in the first 11 months of 2021, with almost
83,000t sold into the British market.
The figures show that Ireland was also the fourth-largest exporter of skim milk powder (SMP) and whole milk powder (WMP) to third countries. It shipped almost 90,000t of SMP and
28,000t of WMP in the first 11 months of 2021.
Irish whey powder exports totalled almost 70,000t between January and November last year. More than 21,000t of this total was shipped to the UK. The US is by far the most important market for EU butter, taking almost 38,000t. Japan is the most important buyer of EU cheeses, taking 128,000t in 2020. China and Algeria were the largest outlets for European SMP in 2020, taking 121,000t and 118,000t respectively.
The UK remains one of the primary suppliers of dairy products into the EU. In 2020, it supplied 26,500t of butter and 161,500t of cheese.
LSL News.