The European Commission is relatively optimistic about the milk and dairy products sector in the coming months.
The milk market situation is comparatively positive, with weak demand and low prices for skimmed milk powder largely offset by fine performances from other dairy products, the Commission said after the meeting of the European milk market observatory on Tuesday 25 July. It acknowledges that “it will take time for producers to recover from losses suffered” in the 2017 crisis.
Milk production in the EU fell by 1.1% (or 700,000 tonnes) in the first five months. Production dropped significantly in Germany (down 3.8%) and France (down 3.2%) but it rose in Ireland (up 6.8%), Italy (2.8%), Poland (3.5%) and Spain (0.3%). Since April, production has been higher than the 2016 level. In May, a very slight increase of 0.1% (compared with May 2016) was recorded.
In other short-term forecasts published in mid-July, the Commission predicts a rise of 0.7% in milk collection in the EU in 2017 (then 0.9% in 2018), with wide differences between countries: large increases are expected in Ireland, Poland and Italy, little change is forecast for France and Germany and the Netherlands will see falls. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)