Brussels, 15/01/2015 (Agence Europe) - The threat of a “milk tsunami” is here again, because supply is outstripping demand on the European milk market, according to a statement made by the European Milk Board (EMB) on Thursday 15 January, in Berlin.
In a press release, the EMB explains that in 2014, milk production increased by around 7.5 million tonnes compared to figures for 2013. This surplus has led to a fall in prices. In Belgium, Netherlands, Ireland and France, prices collapsed to below the 30-euro cents benchmark at the beginning of the year. The EMB is concerned that, “the situation is increasingly threatening the livelihood of many dairy farmers”. According to the EMB, “We are already in the middle of a new milk market crisis”. It also explains that when the last system limiting volumes - the milk quota - is abolished on 1 April, the situation in the markets will be even further exacerbated. The latter calls for delegates to take action. “We demand an immediate cut in milk production across the EU by two to three per cent, to enable supply to adjust to demand again”, says Romuald Schaber, president of the EMB. He also argues that in the current situation, available crisis instruments like intervention and private storage were totally unsuitable for countering crises like the present one. The EMB is also concerned about low price imports from third countries.
It calls for the Market Responsibility Programme (MRP) to be introduced: incentive measures that will allow milk producers to adjust production in accordance with market changes. (LC)