Although December U.S. dairy export tonnages were off, particularly milk powder exports to the Middle East, 2011 as a whole will go down as a record year.
That’s according to data released by the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service last Friday, Feb. 10.
For the year, on a value basis, U.S. dairy exports are up 30% to $4.8 billion. Even December export values were up 23% over a year ago, and fourth-quarter sales were up 28%.
On a total milk solids basis, the U.S. is exporting 13.3% compared to 12.8% last year, a 4% increase. The proportion of some products being exported is stunning: 67% of U.S. lactose, 55% of dry sweet whey and 47% of non-fat dry milk and skim milk powder. Butterfat exports account for 7.9% of U.S. production, and total cheese exports account for 3.7%.
A more complete summary can be found here, provided by the U.S. Dairy Export Council.
