European Union: Dairy and Products Semi-Annual

EU environmental restrictions are stagnating milk production in Northwestern European Member States (MS). As a result, EU27 peak milk production was likely reached in 2020 and cow milk production in the EU27 is forecast at 144.6 million MT (MMT) for 2022, a decrease of 434,000 MT compared to 2021 and 836,000 MT down from 2020. The increase in production of non-cow milk remains strong driven by consumers’ appreciation for goat and ewe derived dairy products. EU27 cheese production for 2022 is forecast to increase to 10.6 MMT as consumption continues to increase year after year. This comes at the expense of the production of butter, non-fat dry milk (NFDM), and whole milk powder (WMP) for lack of additional milk production, which translates into decreased exports and domestic consumption for butter, NFDM and WMP, and increasing prices in the EU market.