How domestic milk is being replaced by imports

2025-02-21 08:05:00, Ekonomi CNA

The increase in milk imports continued throughout 2024. According to Customs data, 22.8 million liters of milk were imported in 2024. Compared to 2023, imports increased by 23%.

Imports are expected to expand further through 2025, as processing operators plan to purchase milk as raw material from abroad during the summer months.

"At the moment, we do not plan to buy imported milk, because we have more milk than we need. But during the summer months, we definitely plan to buy, as we cannot meet our needs with local production from farmers," says Luis Ndreka from the ADG company.

Another problem for the processing industry continues to be the high production costs due to the expensive prices of domestic milk supplies for raw materials.

"The price of cow's milk on large farms in the country is 66 lek per liter (excluding VAT). On small farms (where the costs of collecting it are higher) the price of milk goes up to 60 lek (excluding VAT). This is at the farm gate, so without transport," says Mr. Ndreka.

But despite frequent price reductions, which were accompanied by protests by livestock farmers twice in April 2024, milk produced by local farmers continues to remain more expensive, compared to milk produced in the region or Europe.

During that period, cow's milk from large and medium-sized farms was collected at a price of 65 to 67 lek excluding VAT per liter, down from 78 lek excluding VAT previously (a decrease of 16 to 20%).

While milk from small farms was collected at a price of 60 lek per liter excluding VAT. While the price of cow's milk in 2024 from imports, including transport costs and taxes, reached 55 lek per liter, or about 38 lek per liter cheaper than domestic production.

Experts claim that it is the lack of subsidies per liter of milk produced that creates a huge difference in the selling price of cow's milk compared to farms in the region and Europe.

Also, since January 2025, farmers have been facing increased costs for keeping livestock due to the increase in feed prices of up to 60%. The price of corn from 27 lek/kg that was previously traded, is currently being purchased for 34 lek/kg. An increase of 26%.

The price of hay from 22 lek/kg becomes 29 lek/kg. The increase is 24%. The price of barley from 25 lek/kg becomes 33 lek/kg. The increase is 32%. While the price of alfalfa from 500 lek that was traded in the May-June period, is currently 700-800 lek/dengu. The increase varies from 40 to 60%.

But for processors, the increase in costs is not expected to bring another increase in the price of milk for collection, as demand is lower than supply. Meanwhile, agronomists warned that the increase in the price of nutrients is expected to affect the reduction of heads on farms./ Monitor Magazine