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Mixed picture for UK dairy product availability
Tuesday, 29 March 2022
2021 presented plenty of challenges for the dairy sector, and agriculture as a whole, with our exit from the EU, the impacts of covid restrictions and increased input costs. These challenges have determined how the UK has produced and traded goods. Dairy product availability* in 2021 was mixed, with milk powders and butter seeing year-on-year growth (all be it marginal for butter) and cheese seeing a fall in available supplies.
Production volumes increased for butter and cheese by 9% and 3% respectively. However, as milk deliveries only increased by 0.1% (68,000 litres) in 2021 compared to 2020, liquid milk and yoghurt production suffered.
Butter production increased by 18,000 tonnes in the year. Despite a fall in exports, the drop in import volumes (22,000 tonnes) has meant available supplies have only increased 2% year-on-year.
A similar picture was seen in cheese availability. However, as the UK is a net importer of cheese, an 18% drop in imports in 2021 has meant available supplies were down 34,000 tonnes (4%) on the year.
Production of milk powder was down 3% in 2021 compared to 2020, while imports fell by 19% year on year. Available supplies increased by 32,000 tonnes as a direct result of reduced exports. In 2021, these were 35% (43,000 tonnes) lower than the previous year, likely due to transport blockages.
*product availability is defined as: production + imports – exports
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