Canadian dairy imports spike in July amid declining exports

Canadian dairy exports were very weak in July, decreasing by 17.80%, or 15 million kilo LME. This follows a decline of 23 million kilo LME in the previous period.Negative results were recorded across SMP, WMP, whey, lactose, cheese, butter, butter oil, milk and condensed milk. Canadian dairy exports July Commodity 2025 2026 ∆ ∆% SMP 1703 169 -1,534 -90.08% WMP 22 19 -3 -15.23% WPC 1829 2,064 235 12.85% Whey powder 5259.8 4,834 -426 -2.29% Lactose 1037.58 931 -107 -10.27% WPI/WPC80 0 92 92 101.75% Butter milk 1 0 -1 35.29% Cheese 561 462 -99 -17.65% Butter 199 95 -104 -52.26% Butteroil 128 41 -87 -67.97% Milk 906 619 -287 -31.68% Cream 390 393 3 0.77% Yoghurt 3286 3,508 222 6.76% Condensed 40.6 40 -1 -2.46% Despite the weak monthly performance, year-to-date exports through July observed positive results, increasing by 2.03%, or 10 million kilo LME. Canadian dairy exports YTD July Commodity 2025 2026 ∆ ∆% SMP 8,810 5,710 -3,100 -35.19% WMP 195 224 29 14.69% WPC 15,050 15,219 169 1.12% Whey powder 23,991 28,500 4,509 18.79% Lactose 8,403 8,572 169 2.01% WPI/WPC80 347 499 152 43.80% Butter milk 468 405 -63 -13.46% Cheese 5,531 3,818 -1,713 -30.97% Butter 1,225 617 -608 -49.63% Butteroil 368 292 -76 -20.65% Milk 8,227 6,995 -1,232 -14.98% Cream 2,077 2,956 879 42.32% Yoghurt 20,377 28,292 7,915 38.84% Condensed 343 577 234 68.22% Year-to-date milk output through June stood 0.09% below last year, representing a decline of 4.6 million kilo. Canada remains one of the few countries globally to report a year-on-year decline in milk production. Canadian milk production Month 2025 2026 ∆% ∆ January 826,087,400 824,473,700 -0.20% -1,613,700 February 748,362,200 747,690,600 -0.09% -671,600 March 833,015,800 829,329,000 -0.44% -3,686,800 April 808,337,200 803,314,100 -0.62% -5,023,100 May 836,303,700 836,036,200 -0.03% -267,500 June 808,712,600 815,372,200 0.82% 6,659,600 Total 4,860,818,900 4,856,215,800 -0.09% -4,603,100 In July, Canadian dairy imports recorded another strong year-on-year increase, likely reflecting the same underlying factors behind the slow export performance and declining milk production. Only two product categories recorded lower import volumes compared with last year.July import volumes increased by 29.83%, or 31 million kilo LME. Although this represents a substantial increase, growth was less pronounced than in June, when imports rose by 51.84%, or 53 million kilo LME. Canadian dairy imports July Commodity 2025 2026 ∆ ∆% SMP 351 381 30 8.55% WMP 241 330 89 36.93% Whey Powder 580 617 37 6.38% WPC's 465 822 357 76.77% Whey modified, nes 1,760 2,827 1,067 60.63% MPC 1,623 2,790 1,167 71.90% Lactose 430 448 18 4.19% milk contituents 254 240 -14 -5.51% Casein 315 356 41 13.02% Caseinates 78 149 71 91.03% WPI/WPC 80 900 1,014 114 12.67% Cheese 5,103 5,529 426 8.35% Butter 2,248 2,949 701 31.18% Butter oil 764 521 -243 -31.81% Cream 976 999 23 2.36% Milk 5,176 10,627 5,451 105.31% Year-to-date imports through July were up 12.98%, equivalent to an increase of 100 million kilo LME. This compares with year-to-date growth of 13.98%, or 92 million kilo LME, through June. Canadian dairy imports YTD July Commodity 2025 2026 ∆ ∆% SMP 1,814 2,734 920 50.72% WMP 1,411 2,307 896 63.50% Whey Powder 2,083 4,631 2,548 122.32% WPC's 4,383 4,613 230 5.25% Whey modified, nes 12,987 16,737 3,750 28.88% MPC 10,333 20,287 9,954 96.33% Lactose 4,063 3,123 -940 -23.14% milk contituents 4,221 2,718 -1,503 -35.61% Casein 1,493 1,894 401 26.86% Caseinates 825 1,000 175 21.21% WPI/WPC 80 6,604 6,589 -15 -0.23% Cheese 35,277 33,944 -1,333 -3.78% Butter 23,721 21,268 -2,453 -10.34% Butter oil 4,684 3,617 -1,067 -22.78% Cream 4,205 2,617 -1,588 -37.76% Milk 40,264 53,087 12,823 31.85% Strong import growth was recorded for milk powders and most whey derivatives. In contrast, most butterfat products recorded declines.