January 6, 2023

UK dairy exports up between January to October 2022

Dairy exports from the UK have increased between January to October 2022, totaling 1.03 million tonnes, 3.5% up or 35,200 tonnes higher compared to the same period in 2021, UK Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board reported.

Compared to the 2021, the average price per tonne of product has significantly increased. This reflects the higher global wholesale prices seen during 2022 compared to 2021, and was caused by tighter supplies and high production costs during the period between January to October.

All dairy products experienced price increases, with cheese and curd products seeing increases of 20% to 58% and butter seeing increases of 58%. The average price of powders and concentrates increased 32% so far this year, with the SMP price seeing a 48% increase. Overall, this meant that the value of all exports rose by 37% to GBP 1.54 billion (~US$1.8 billion; GBP 1 = US$1.19).

As for UK dairy imports, the data showed that shipments into the UK were slightly more than 1 million tonnes of dairy products during the first 10 months of 2022. This is 3% (32,600 tonnes) less than it was during the same time in 2021. In contrast, the value of imports was GBP 2.48 billion (~US$2.9 billion), up 26% from January through October 2021.

With 370,800 tonnes (or 37% of total imports) of dairy products, Ireland continues to be the UK's main supplier, but this is slightly lower than last year. There were higher dairy imports from Germany, the Netherlands, and Italy to the UK.

-      UK Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board