In Ukraine, as of December 17, 2023, the weighted average purchase price of three types of raw milk increased by 34 kopecks. – up to 14.25 UAH/kg excluding VAT, which is 2.4% more than the price as of November 25.
As Ukrinform reports, this was reported by the press service of the Association of Milk Producers.
It is noted that the average purchase price of extra-grade milk as of December 17 was 14.61 UAH/kg excluding VAT, which is 31 kopecks. more than a month ago. The price range for this variety on farms varies from 14 to 15 UAH/kg excluding VAT. The lower and upper limits of the price range increased by 20 kopecks. per month.
The highest grade costs on average 14.61 UAH/kg excluding VAT. Over the past month, the price of this variety has increased by 31 kopecks. Prices for premium quality milk range from 14 to 15 UAH/kg excluding VAT. The lower and upper limits of the price range increased by 20 kopecks.
The average price for first-grade milk was 13.54 UAH/kg excluding VAT and increased by 39 kopecks. compared with the results of preliminary monitoring. The minimum price on farms was 12.92 UAH/kg and increased by 12 kopecks. per month. The maximum price for the first grade was 14.28 UAH/kg, which is 78 kopecks. more compared to the monitoring results on November 25.
AVM analyst Georgiy Kukhaleishvili notes that in December purchase prices continued to rise compared to November against the backdrop of a limited supply of raw milk on the domestic market and quite active demand from cheese makers and producers of fresh dairy products on the eve of the New Year holidays.
Industrial farms in November-December 2023 resumed the productivity lost during the abnormal summer heat and even showed growth, but this is why dairy processing enterprises were unable to properly prepare for the autumn-winter sales period and produced fewer commodity goods than usual.
The volume and share of raw milk from households continues to decline rapidly, which also contributes to the persistence of a shortage of raw materials in the market, which the industrial sector does not have time to compensate.
According to the expert, orders from retail chains may slow down further increases in prices for raw milk, since activity in the dairy market traditionally falls after the Christmas and New Year celebrations. A further increase in prices for cheeses and fresh dairy products on supermarket shelves may slow down the purchasing activity of consumers, who mainly have limited financial resources in war conditions and do not want to overpay in order to save money.
Stabilization of prices for raw materials is possible with an increase in the volume of imports of cheeses, butter and cream to Ukraine. In this case, the warehouses will be filled with imported dairy products, the domestic market will be saturated, and the demand for raw milk from Ukrainian processors will stabilize.
As Ukrinform reported, in Ukraine in January-November 2023, farms of all categories produced about 6.821 million tons of raw milk, which is 4.6% less than last year.
