Suppliers shipped 210,429 metric tons of milk powders, cheese, whey products, lactose and butterfat — an 18% increase year over year. At $585.2 million, export value increased 8% over May 2019, according to the U.S. Dairy Export Council.
The strong sales were led by record volumes of nonfat dry and skim milk powders and boosted by improved shipments of cheese, strong exports of lactose and a steady volume of whey products.
“In general, our expectations were that the economic challenges and various lockdowns would mean lower import demand around the world,” said Alan Levitt, USDEC vice president for market analysis and communications.
“We still think that will take place, but the May data reflects shipments that were booked earlier. We also saw importers refill pipelines, in part to take advantage of favorable pricing when the market crashed in May,” he said.
May shipments increased 16% in volume and 13% in value from the previous month.
Southeast Asia continued its reign as the top market, again posting record-high volumes. The region purchased $139.5 million in U.S. dairy products in May, an increase of 67% year over year.
The U.S. shipped a total of 79,163 metric tons of milk powders in May, the highest monthly volume ever and an increase of 24% year over year. Almost half of those shipments went to Southeast Asia, which nearly doubles its purchases year over year
USDEC attributes those sales to processors and blenders buying ahead to hedge against future supply disruptions, Levitt said.
“They want to ensure they have enough ingredients on hand in case the border closes or ships can’t get into port,” he said.
Powder sales to the Middle East/North Africa region were the most in six years, and powder shipment to China increased more than six-fold from a year earlier.
U.S. cheese exports rebounded in May to 35,605 metric tons, the second-largest monthly shipments ever and an increase of 8% year over year. Cheese shipments to Southeast Asia were up 40% to a record high. Shipment to Japan increased 45% to the most in almost six years, and shipments to Australia and China more than doubled.
May exports of whey were 44,304 metric tons, up 16% from last year’s depressed level and on par with April. All the demand growth came from China, where volume was up 153% from May 2019.
Those sales to China are primarily due to increased feed demand, Levitt said.
African swine fever “is not yet under control everywhere but with the high price of pork, hog farmers are desperately trying to restock their herds where possible,” he said.
U.S. lactose exports at 36,429 were up 18% and reached a 10-month high. Sales were up to Southeast Asia, China and Japan.
“Like powder, increased lactose sales are due in part to manufacturers buying ahead. Especially since lactose is an ingredient in infant formula, they want to ensure they can keep the shelves stocked,” Levitt said.
Lactose supplies have been tight, so that’s made importers a little more aggressive, he said.
