Dairy sector eagerly uses intervention

At the end of last week, a total of 24.332 tons of butter were in private storage, after more than 15.000 had been put away in the first week. With 8.307 tons, the largest volumes come from the Netherlands. Ireland, also a major butter producer, follows in 2nd place with 6.776 tonnes. A considerable volume (4.227 tons) is also available from Germany.

It is striking that large dairy countries such as Poland and France have not yet made use of the scheme. The storage scheme for butter is far from full and can amount to a maximum of 160.000 tons. 

The Netherlands is almost at its ceiling 
Cheese is also being stored en masse, as is evident from the fact that 34.385 tons have already been stored. This means that approximately one third of the maximum storage volume of 100.000 tonnes is filled. With 12.654 tons, Italy is at the front of the queue, followed by the Netherlands with 6.631 tons. This means that our country is almost at the storage ceiling of 8.726 tonnes. The great interest in storing cheese for a fee is not surprising, because this product still needs to be ripened.

The volume of skimmed milk powder that has been set aside is currently limited. Germany, the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Poland have jointly stored 3.377 tons. The relatively limited volume is probably because supplies were already tight before the corona crisis started.

Market gets some air
The storage arrangement provides breathing space for the dairy market, as can be seen from the DCA dairy quotations in recent weeks. The prices of butter, cheese and skimmed milk powder are rising again. At the same time, the price levels before the corona crisis are still far away.

The DCA butter price, for example, was still above €3.500 per ton before the corona crisis, then fell back to approximately €2.550 and has risen again in recent weeks to above the €3.000 limit.