Milk deliveries in March from the world's five key exporting regions averaged 783.4 million litres per day, approaching the 2016 figure of 786.0 million litres/day, AHDB Dairy reported on Monday, May 22.

Based on the data it has tracked, the dairy division of the UK Agriculture & Horticulture Development Board said milk supplies rose slightly more than expected due to particularly good grass growth in New Zealand, bolstering deliveries in March.

The five key exporting regions of the EU-28, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and the US account for over 65% of global milk production and around 80% of global exports of dairy products. They are critical in influencing the direction of prices on global markets.

The tracker provides a baseline for comparing whether actual production is rising or falling as expected.

Month-on-month movements in milk production in those key regions for the last five years were combined to create an average milk profile for a typical milk year.