While demand for dairy may be subdued in Europe, China’s appetite for dairy is showing no signs of waning.

For March, Chinese buyers imported more than 231,000t of dairy products, which is 10% more than the same month last year.

This brings total Chinese dairy imports for the first quarter of 2019 (Jan-Mar) to just under 863,000t, which is almost 15% ahead of the same period last year.

Chinese buyers are showing particularly strong appetite for infant formula, whole milk powder (WMP) and skimmed milk powder (SMP) so far this year.

Infant formula imports in the first quarter of 2019 are more than 20% ahead of last year at 76,000t, while WMP imports are up almost 30% year on year to 278,000t.

SMP imports in quarter one are up 28% on last year at 105,500t. Cheese imports for the period are up 3% to 27,650t.

In contrast, Chinese demand for butter and whey powder is well back. Butter imports in quarter one are down 20% on last year to just under 25,000t, while imports of whey powder are down 16% to 115,300t.

Chinese imports of whey fell sharply in February (-20%) and March (-27%) due to the severe outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) in China’s pig herd.

Bulk whey powder is still used as a high-protein feed for pigs.

Prices for whey powder have dropped almost €100/t as a result, with prices for German and Dutch whey powder sold as animal feed trading at €750/t this week.