New Zealand dairy exports expand in June amid a strong milk production

The first month of the 2026/27 milk season saw a significant increase in milk production of 4.58%, equivalent to an additional 12 million kilo of milk. Year-to-date (YTD) through June, milk production increased by 5.37%, or 468 million kilo. Milk production in New Zealand - Thousand tons Month 2025 2026 ∆ ∆% January 2,385 2,432 47 1.97% February 1,865 1,977 112 6.01% March 1,763 1,935 172 9.76% April 1,456 1,545 89 6.11% May 987 1,023 36 3.65% June 262 274 12 4.58% Total 8,718 9,186 468 5.37% Following a 22.66% increase in May, exports rose by a further 16.48% in June, equivalent to an additional 250 million kilo of Liquid Milk Equivalent (LME). Most product categories recorded growth, except for whey, acid casein, lactose, milk, and condensed milk. The past four months have each recorded double-digit export growth. New Zealands dairy exports - June Commodity 2025 2026 ∆ ∆% WMP 103,955 143,057 39,102 37.61% SMP 21,521 38,161 16,640 77.32% BMP 2,119 4,904 2,785 131.43% Whey 1,039 911 -128 -12.32% Acid casein 2,752 4,003 1,251 45.46% Rennet Casein 2,496 1,310 -1,186 -47.52% Caseinates 2,732 3,607 875 32.03% WPI/WPC > 80% 2,389 2,601 212 8.87% Lactose 3,330 2,901 -429 -12.88% Infant Formula 7,137 7,459 322 4.51% Butter 15,536 26,813 11,277 72.59% AMF 16,724 17,418 694 4.15% Cheese 34,886 44,440 9,554 27.39% Milk 19,717 17,892 -1,825 -9.26% Condensed 1,898 1,427 -471 -24.83% Cream 13,841 18,895 5,054 36.51% The YTD results through June largely mirror the performance seen in June alone. In addition to the trends observed during the month, the YTD figures also show declines in rennet casein, infant formula (I/F), and anhydrous milk fat (AMF). As of June, export volumes were up 11.01% year to date, representing an increase of 1.210 billion kilo of Liquid Milk Equivalent. New Zealands dairy exports - YTD June Commodity 2025 2026 ∆ ∆% WMP 708,946 829,260 120,314 16.97% SMP 228,707 253,723 25,016 10.94% BMP 17,612 20,161 2,549 14.47% Whey 7,352 9,182 1,830 24.89% Acid casein 18,910 17,343 -1,567 -8.29% Rennet Casein 11,582 9,989 -1,593 -13.75% Caseinates 16,663 15,522 -1,141 -6.85% WPI/WPC > 80% 12,767 14,217 1,450 11.36% Lactose 15,920 14,115 -1,805 -11.34% Infant Formula 50,100 47,502 -2,598 -5.19% Butter 138,898 159,675 20,777 14.96% AMF 106,248 104,838 -1,410 -1.33% Cheese 229,948 235,179 5,231 2.28% Milk 118,860 99,266 -19,594 -16.48% Condensed 13,855 13,821 -34 -0.25% Cream 107,133 123,292 16,159 15.08% Imports declined on a YTD basis across most product categories. However, lactose and cheese recorded notable increases in absolute import volumes. Total New Zealand imports of the products shown above increased from 6.93%, or 26 million kilo of LME, in May to 10.62%, or 46 million kilo of LME, in June. New Zealands dairy imports - YTD June Commodity 2025 2026 ∆ ∆% Whey 0404.10 4,337 6,287 1,950 44.96% Cheese 0406 4,868 7,786 2,918 59.94% Lactose 1702.11 & 19 49,969 52,340 2,371 4.74% Year-to-date through June, theoretical stocks declined from 1.57 billion kilo of LME at the beginning of the year to 871 million kilo of LME, a decrease of 44.38%. This represents 9.49% of New Zealand's milk production year to date through June 2026. Although this stock level remains relatively high, it is primarily the result of increased milk production. Encouragingly, the increase in export volumes was nearly twice the increase in milk production.