Stark Choices being faced by the Polish Dairy Industry
Despite the war still raging in Ukraine, energy prices still unresolved and inflation still taking its toll, the reality in the dairy industry is very different according to Marcin Hydzik, president of the Association of Polish Milk Processors.
According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the prices of all dairy products monitored under the Integrated Agricultural Market Information System have decreased since the beginning of the year: natural yoghurt by 4.73%, kefir by 4.53%, UHT drinking milk by 11.84%, cream and cream by 3.73%, packaged butter by 8.31%, gouda cheese by 12.85%, and Edam cheese by 26.23%.
Not only retail chains, but also foreign competitors are encouraging a reduction in the prices of finished products – Polish skimmed milk powder is currently more expensive than German, French or Dutch, and Polish butter in blocks is more expensive than German. Therefore, the Polish dairy industry faces a choice – either to lower prices and costs, or to go out of business. The effects in the form of falling purchase prices are already visible.
In the context of competition, it is also worth paying attention to the results of Polish foreign trade in dairy products. In the period from January to April 2023 compared to the same period of the previous year, the volume of exports of milk powders increased significantly by over 11%.
Unfortunately, in terms of value, exports of milk powders denominated in EUR decreased by over 5%, and in PLN by over 2.5%. A similar situation took place in the case of butter – an increase in volume by over 8.5%, a decrease in value of 7.4%. In the case of cheese, a decrease in the volume of exports of less than 2% was recorded, however, the value of this turnover expressed in euro increased by approx. 9.7%, and in PLN by 12.6%.
Exporters of fermented products were definitely in the best position, increasing the volume of transactions by approx. 3.5%, but in terms of value they managed to obtain over 25% more in the domestic currency and over 28% in euro. In the case of imports, a simultaneous increase in volume and value was recorded for SMP and cheese – says Marcin Hydzik.
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