Report 51 – Released on December 17, 2020

WESTERN EUROPEAN OVERVIEW:

A relaxed holiday mood prevails in the Western European dairy industry. Many calls go unanswered. There are fewer Skype calls. The pace is slower.

EU milk production January – October 2020 increased 1.7 percent from January – October 2019 according to CLAL data made available to USDA. Among some of the milk producers, the percentage change January – October 2020 compared with January – October 2019 is Germany, +0.5 percent; France, +0.7 percent; Netherlands, +1.4 percent; Italy, +4.3 percent; and Ireland, +3.7 percent.

EU cheese production January – October 2020 increased 2.0 percent from January – October 2019 according to CLAL data made available to USDA. Among some of the cheese producers, the percentage change January – October 2020 compared with January – October 2019 is Germany, +2.8 percent; France, -1.9 percent; Netherlands, +4.3 percent; Italy, +1.9 percent; and Ireland, +4.0 percent.

Negotiations between the EU and New Zealand concerning a free trade agreement recently completed the nineth round. The next round is expected to occur during the first quarter of 2021. A topic to be addressed is dairy provisions. European sources say that New Zealand believes that the dairy provisions leave it at a trade disadvantage to other EU treaty partners such as Canada and Chile.

EASTERN EUROPEAN OVERVIEW:

Polish milk production January – October 2020 increased 2.5 percent from January – October 2019 according to CLAL data made available to USDA. Comparing dairy product production January – October this year against that period last year, butter is +8.2 percent; cheese is +3.7 percent; SMP is +6.4 percent; but WMP is -12.3 percent.