The country’s dairy imports in the first half grew by 8.59 percent to 1.469 million metric tons in liquid milk equivalent (MMT-LME) from 1.353 MMT-LME recorded in the same period of last year, latest government data showed.
Latest National Dairy Authority (NDA) data showed that the value of dairy imports grew by 8.92 percent to $562.43 million from $516.36 million recorded in the first half of last year.
NDA data also showed that the increase in imports was driven by higher purchase of butter and cheese products abroad as these products posted double-digit growth rates.
The country’s imports of butter, butter fat and dairy spreads rose by 18.34 percent to 150,320 MT-LME from last year’s 127,020 MT-LME. The volume of imported cheese during the first half reached 87,340 MT-LME, 50.69 percent higher than the 57,960 MT-LME recorded in the same period of last year.
In terms of value, the country’s imports of butter, butter fat and dairy spreads grew by 9.75 percent on an annual basis to $83.33 million, while cheese imports expanded by 40 percent to $58.18 million, based on the NDA data.
NDA data also showed that the volume of milk and cream products imported by the Philippines in the January-to-June period grew by 5.69 percent to 1.210 MMT-LME from 1.145 MMT-LME recorded last year. Value wise, imports of these milk products increased by 5.8 percent to $402.48 million from $380.43 million.
NDA data showed that the United States was the country’s top supplier of dairy products in the first half as it accounted for 31.66 percent of the total imported volume.
The country’s dairy imports from the United States reached 462,230 MT-LME, valued at $146.24 million, based on NDA data. The United States was followed by New Zealand with a total import volume of 366,480 MT-LME worth $190.75 million, NDA data showed.
Furthermore, the country’s dairy exports expanded by 20.02 percent to 14,610 MT from last year’s 12,170 MT on the back of higher shipments of milk and cream products. The value of the country’s dairy exports in the first half more than quintupled to $32.22 million from $5.68 million last year, based on NDA data.
NDA data showed that Malaysia was the top destination for the country’s dairy exports as it accounted for 15.62 percent of the total volume shipped in the six-month period. Milk exports to Malaysia reached 5,034.88 MT-LME worth $21.45 million.