Butter production in the Netherlands lowest since 2009

The surplus on the European butter market does not come from Dutch factories. Butter production in the Netherlands has dropped to a historic low this autumn. A development that is remarkable in light of the significantly increased milk supply in the Netherlands. In June, the Netherlands produced nearly 9,000 tons of butter. In July, production dropped to only 6,601 tons. In the following months, production stabilized around that level. The last time the volumes were this low was in the summer of 2009. 'Closure of Den Bosch plant plays no role'The decline could be explained by the fact that FrieslandCampina closed the butter factory in Den Bosch in July. Inquiries reveal that the dairy cooperative has relocated butter production to Lochem and that this does not affect the market. FrieslandCampina does not share production figures for competitive reasons, but according to the spokesperson, the production from Den Bosch has gone almost 1 to 1 to Lochem, where a new butter line has been built. Cheese production higher The decline in butter production is also not due to less milk being processed. On the contrary, milk production in the Netherlands has shown a rapid increase since July. A large portion of the extra supply has gone into cheese production. In June, cheese production was still nearly 4% below last year's level; a month later, the production volume was 1.34% above. In the following months, the lead has been further expanded. Also more skimmed milk powderProduction of skimmed milk powder also increased, reaching 6,606 tons in August, 22% above last year's level (but it did decrease again in September). There is a similar development for the production of cream and butter. Purely looking at butter production, something is missing. The Dutch decline in butter production also does not align with the European trend. Since July, butter production in the Eurozone has rapidly increased by 4.41% to 176,000 tons in September.