Irish dairy exports soar in January

Bord Bia data shows that Irish dairy exports in January set a new record for the month at €483m, a €111m or 30% increase on January last year.

This is also €59m higher than the previous highest export value for January, set in January 2023.

Export volumes in January were 111,120t, up 17% on January last year, and the second highest total for the month, with the highest being 114,703t recorded for January 2018.

Main categories

Irish butter exports recorded exceptional performance in January. Value increased by 65.4% from January 2024 to €111.7m, while volume increased by 25% to 14,620t.

The second-highest value category was cheese, where the value increased by 13% to €94.4m for the 18,003t exported in January.

Fat-filled milk powder (FFMP) export values were 27.5% higher in January this year than last year at €75.7m, just ahead of infant food exports, which were worth just under €75m, 9.7% ahead of last January.

The volume of FFMP exported in January was 26,577t, up 16.4% year on year, and 10,530t of infant food was exported in January, a small increase on January last year.

Markets

The UK continues as the highest-value single market for Irish dairy exports, taking €83.2m worth of Irish dairy products in January, some 21.7% higher than January last year. The volume also increased, up 22.3% to 26,817t.

The value of dairy exports to the EU jumped by over €70m to €190.7m, while volumes increased by just over 12,000t to 40,739t.

There was a more modest increase in the value of exports to Africa and Asia, up by €4.7m and €7.7m respectively to €51m and €48.6m, but volumes were lower at 17,413t and 8,262t.

The US market is of particular interest at present, with the Trump administration due to announce tariffs on US imports from the EU on 2 April.

A rate of 200% has been mentioned in relation to drinks and dairy products are also likely to be targeted. This is a major concern for Irish dairy farmers and exporters.

In January, the US was second to the UK in value as an export market at €59.4m, a 20.7% increase on January last year.

Butter accounted for €31.5m of this value, with cheese the next most valuable Irish dairy export to the US at €10.3m. Infant food and casein exports were worth €7.2m and €7m respectively in January 2025.

Bord Bia view

The Irish Farmers Journal asked head of dairy in Bord Bia David Kennedy for his thoughts on the January export performance.

He said that a combination of “increased availability and high market prices” were key drivers.

“Milk collections in Ireland for the final three months of 2024 and January of this year were 22% ahead of the same period last year and 7% ahead of the five-year average,” he said.

On the increased value, he explained that “butter accounted for €44m and cheese a further €11m of the increase".

"Although many exports will be to contracted prices lower than EU spot prices, January saw European butter prices averaging €7,400/t in 2025 compared to closer to €5,400/t for the same period in 2024. Cheddar was also trading around €1,250, or 35%, ahead of 2024 levels.” David also pointed out that “that there has been some softening in price for both these key products in February and skim milk powder prices have been subdued in the year”.

There is no doubt that everything came right for Irish dairy exports in January. The strong milk supply at the end of 2024 meant that the raw material was in place for processing and there proved to be ready markets for the product with butter and to a lesser extent cheese markets particularly buoyant.

The fear of US tariffs on EU dairy imports is real and Irish butter is particularly exposed, as it has been such a strong performer in that market, with the Kerrygold brand particularly strong.

Notwithstanding the risk from potential US tariffs, Irish dairy exports remain well diversified in global markets.

There was a cooling of butter and cheese markets around the turn of the year, though they are trending upwards again in recent weeks. If this can be sustained and powder markets strengthen somewhat, while US tariffs would hurt, there are alternative options even if less financially attractive.