The country’s milk import bill in 2017 rose by 12 percent to a 16-year high of $903.1 million, as the recovery of global prices made dairy products from abroad more expensive.
The latest data from the National Dairy Authority (NDA) showed that the total value of imported dairy products last year was $95.38 million higher than the $807.72 million recorded in 2016.
However, the total volume of dairy products imported in 2017 declined by 10.33 percent to 2.486 million metric tons in liquid milk equivalent [MMT-LME], from a record-high volume of 2.772 MMT-LME in 2016.
“In terms of value, it went up to 12 percent [from total dairy import bill of $807.72 million to $903.10 million] indicating an increase in unit-import cost of 21 percent and 29 percent in dollar terms and in pesos, respectively,” the NDA said.
The average import cost of milk products during the reference period was pegged at $0.36 per liter (P18.31 per liter), from $0.29 per liter quotation (P13.84 per liter) in 2016.
Food-price monitoring by the United Nations’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) showed that average dairy prices in 2017 went up by 31.46 percent the previous year’s level.
The FAO food-price index showed that dairy price index in 2017 reached a three-year high of 202.2 points.
The FAO attributed the increase in global dairy prices to the tightening supply of milk in the world market, particularly in Australia, New Zealand and the European Union.
“Milk powder constituted the bulk of imports contributing 58 percent to the total milk and dairy products imports,” the attached agency of the Department of Agriculture said.
“Skimmed-milk powder comprised 34 percent, whey powder at 13 percent, whole-milk powder at 4 percent and buttermilk powder at 7 percent of milk imports,” the NDA added.
Skimmed-milk powder was the top milk product imported by the Philippines during the period. Imports reached 1.121 MMT-LME, valued at $337.67 million, according to NDA data.
However, the volume was 21.90 percent lower than the 1.435 MMT-LME imported in 2016, while the value was 3.44 percent higher than the $349.71 million recorded a year ago.
Data from the NDA showed that the bulk of the country’s dairy imports came from the United States, which accounted for 30 percent, overtaking New Zealand as the country’s top source of milk products.
Dairy imports from the US reached 741,930 MT-LME in 2017, valued at $201.27 million, while those imported from New Zealand reached 707,230 MT-LME and were valued much higher at $360.10 million.
A Global Agricultural Information Network (Gain) report, published last October, projected that Philippine dairy imports in 2017 would decline by almost 10 percent as imported milk becomes more expensive as global prices started to recover.
The Gain report, which was prepared by the US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) in Manila, indicated that the country’s total dairy-milk imports in 2017 would reach 2.5 MMT-LME, from a record high of 2.77 MMT-LME in 2016.
“[FAS Manila] expects imports in 2017 to decline slightly to 2.5 MMT-LME as global dairy prices begin to recover and domestic stocks remain high,” the Gain report read.