The average milk price in February was 29.3c/kg, down 0.5% from January, and 15.4% lower than the average of the last five years.

Milk collection increased by 5.6% in February 2016 compared with the same month last year. In this period there was also 20% more WMP, 15.4% more SMP, 8.2% more butter and 3.5% more cheese.

EU exports in January and February have increased for butteroil (up 135%), butter (up 27%), cheese (up 13.4%), whey powder (up 7.2%), WMP (up 4.8%) and SMP (up 2.8%).

The EU has increased cheese exports to all top 10 destinations up to February 2016. The US is the main outlet for EU cheese exports, with a 9% increase compared with last year. Japan is second in the ranking, with a 6% increase compared with last year. Switzerland, Saudi Arabia (+71%) and South Korea accompany these in the ranking of EU cheese exports.

Saudi Arabia, the US and Egypt have been the main destinations for butter in the first two months of 2016.

Demand

On the demand side, China has increased its imports for February, with butter up 79%, cheese up 61%, whey powder up 39%, SMP up 25% and WMP up 22% compared with the same month last year.

Canada, the US, China and Russia have all shown a remarkable rise in butter imports, while Japan, the US and South Korea lead the ranking of cheese importers in January 2016, with increased volumes compared with last year.

New Zealand

New Zealand increased its exports in the first two months of 2016 by 30% for cheese, 20% for SMP and 9% for butter.

Milk production in New Zealand decreased by 0.8% in March 2016 compared with the same month in 2015. So far, milk production is 1.7% below 2014-15 levels. Milk prices decreased in February 2016 by 5.7%, a 19% decrease compared with February 2015.

Meanwhile, Australian milk production in February 2016 increased by 1.2% compared with February 2015. Milk production in the US increased by 1.8% in March 2016, meaning a cumulated increase of 2.1% in the year.

For February 2016, the US milk price was reported at 31.7c/kg.

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EU average milk price falls by almost 8% for February 2016

The weighted EU average farmgate milk price for February 2016 decreased by 7.8% compared with same month last year, according to latest reports from the EU Milk Market Observatory.