The price of milk and dairy products has been rising, at least since February, an evolution that producers consider late, abrupt but necessary given the pressure that production costs have placed on the sector since 2021.
“In the case of milk and dairy products, the question is more why it happened so late? We were already living, even before the war in Ukraine, with a huge increase in energy and animal feed to produce milk,” defended the secretary-general of the National Federation of Milk Producers Cooperatives (Fenalac), Fernando Cardoso, in statements to Lusa.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February sent energy and grain prices skyrocketing.
So, as he argued, there should be a transfer of costs from the producer to the consumer “sooner or later”.
This transmission happened very late, leading to a sudden rise in prices, a situation that the sector recognizes, but does not overlook, is essential for its survival.
“The grower could no longer bear this increase in costs. It is an activity that lives on reduced margins and had another year of deficits,” he said.
Fernando Cardoso also recalled that things like energy, feed, fertilizers, phytopharmaceuticals and labor account for between 80% and 90% of milk production costs, hence the need for an increase.
“There was a build-up of situations that weren’t communicated and when it arrived it happened in a very clear way for the consumer and we recognize that this has happened but it should happen. There’s no other way,” he reiterated.
In turn, the Secretary General of the Association of Milk Producers of Portugal (Aprolep), Carlos Neves, also recalled that the drought also contributed to this increase, which even led many producers to slaughter their animals.
“Because they lacked fodder and pasture and had very expensive fodder, many producers chose to slaughter animals, which led to a reduction in production and forced the various buyers to raise the price to the farmer and pass it on to the selling price,” says he. explained.
Asked if the producer price has also increased, Fernando Cardoso said Portugal is now “much closer” to the EU average.
“We are currently at a price of around 0.57 euros, possibly a little higher. At the beginning of this movement we had prices of 0.36 euros or 0.37 euros per litre. price of milk for the producer, in a ratio even slightly higher than the consumer price,” he emphasized.
Carlos Neves also pointed out that there was a “very significant” increase in the price paid to the producer, especially between October and November.
However, Aprolep’s secretary general noted that it has not yet managed to recover the accumulated losses since 2021.
“It will take a long time to earn enough to make up for the losses incurred in recent years. Growers are still looking to the future with great concern. We don’t know how long this price will last. We don’t expect it to continue to rise widely, although it would be desirable for it to stabilize at the highest price”he concluded.
Milk without major increases in January but the rest of the year is still unknown
However, the price of milk and its derivatives would not undergo a major change in early 2023, but the rest of the year remains unknown given the evolution of production costs and the external context, the producers told Lusa.
“In January, I assume that there will be no major changes from the cooperatives of milk producers (Fenalac), Fernando Cardoso.
However, he expects there to be “some calm” as consumer incomes are already under pressure.
Fernando Cardoso pointed out that a new increase in the price of milk will always depend on factors such as energy costs and the evolution of the war in Ukraine.
Still, he said he hopes that producers will be able to recover some of their income that has been lost in recent years.
“The passing of the year is just a date that is price-independent,” he notes.
In the same vein, the General Secretary of the Association of Milk Producers of Portugal (Aprolep), Carlos Neves, said that there is currently no indication of an increase in the price of milk paid to professionals in the sector and therefore of the amount paid by the final consumer.
“If anything, it will be very minor,” he underlined.
However, he recalled that milk is a processed product, so it is subject to other costs, such as transport, pasteurization and packaging, which can affect the final value.
“The evolution of energy costs for farmers and industry is also an important issue and I don’t know to what extent this will affect [o valor pago pelo consumidor]”, he stressed, despite hoping that the impact will not be significant.
According to data from consumer protection organization Deco, a liter of semi-skimmed UHT milk cost 0.68 euros on February 23 this year, a value that rose to 0.96 euros on December 7.
In this period, a liter of semi-skimmed UHT milk recorded the highest value on 30 November (0.97 euros).
In turn, a 200-gram pack of sliced Flemish cheese went from 1.99 euros to 2.65 euros, while a 250-gram pack of salted butter went from 2.32 euros, up from 1.85 euros on 23 February.
A pack of 200 grams of sliced cheese had an increase of 0.47 euros until December 7, from two euros to 2.47 euros.
A ‘pack’ of four units of liquid yoghurt increased by EUR 0.23 in the period concerned, with a value of EUR 2.16, while a ‘pack’ of eight units of flavored yoghurt increased from EUR 1.83 to EUR 1.87 , with costs 1.89 euros.
Source: DN
