May 18, 2012

India expects Centre will lift skimmed milk powder export ban

After the government recently allowed licensed export of casein and its products, India's Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) Thursday (May 17) said it hopes the Centre will lift the ban on export of skimmed milk powder (SMP).

"Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar had recently assured us that the ban on SMP exports shall be lifted soon," GCMMF Managing Director R S Sodhi told PTI on the sidelines of a seminar organised by the industry representative FICCI.

GCMMF, with annual turnover of INR11,700 crore (US$2.4 billion), is Asia's largest dairy that markets milk products globally under the Amul brand.

"Around 1.5 lakh tonne of SMP is lying with the organised dairy sector in India, including big players like NDDB, Amul, amongst other leading private dairies," Sodhi said.

The Centre recently allowed exports of casein, a value- added milk item whose export is now permitted under licence. Casein is a protein compound extracted from milk. About 30-35 litres of milk are required to produce one kilogramme of casein.

However, the federation said organised dairy sector in India shall not benefit much from the lifting of export ban on SMP at this stage.

"The international market sentiment is down and organised dairy sector in India is flush with 20% more milk even in summers this year, so lifting the ban on SMP exports shall only ease the situation," Sodhi said.

With milk prices shooting up in the retail markets last year on account of the mismatch between demand and supply, the Centre had imposed a ban in February last on SMP's export and its products to improve domestic scene.