UK dairy exports and imports weaken in July

UK dairy trade weakened in July, with a sharp decline in exports alongside lower milk production and imports. Despite the challenging monthly performance, YTD milk production and exports remained higher than the previous year, while the import deficit continued to narrow.UK milk production declined by 2.75%, or 37.1 million kilo, in July, marking the fourth consecutive month of lower production. YTD through July, milk production remained 0.27% higher, equivalent to an increase of 25.8 million kilo LME. Milk production in the UK Month 2025 2026 ∆% ∆ January 1,321,600,000 1,370,200,000 3.68% 48,600,000 February 1,212,600,000 1,255,800,000 3.56% 43,200,000 March 1,413,700,000 1,442,400,000 2.03% 28,700,000 April 1,444,100,000 1,441,300,000 -0.19% -2,800,000 May 1,504,300,000 1,487,700,000 -1.10% -16,600,000 June 1,399,100,000 1,360,900,000 -2.73% -38,200,000 July 1,350,600,000 1,313,500,000 -2.75% -37,100,000 Total 9,646,000,000 9,671,800,000 0.27% 25,800,000 UK exports were particularly weak in July, declining by 18.06%, or 57.7 million kilo LME. This followed a decline of 8.63%, or 27 million kilo LME, in June. UK dairy exports July Commodity 2025 2026 ∆ ∆% SMP 7,645 7,588 -57 -0.75% WMP 803 979 176 21.92% Whey 4,914 3,933 -981 -19.96% WPC80/WPI's 1,783 1,672 -111 -6.23% Lactose 394 751 357 90.61% FFMP 171 151 -20 -11.70% I/F 1,368 966 -402 -29.39% Cheese 16,055 19,490 3,435 21.40% Butter 2,813 1,456 -1,357 -48.24% AMF 1,626 1,175 -451 -27.74% Cream 3,768 2,201 -1,567 -41.59% Fermented 4,449 1,466 -2,983 -67.05% Condensed 3,675 3,113 -562 -15.29% Milk 65,846 20,055 -45,791 -69.54% Most product categories recorded lower exports, except for WMP, lactose, and cheese, which all posted strong growth.YTD through July, exports remained positive overall despite declines in whey, lactose, I/F, AMF, cream, and milk. Total YTD exports increased by 2.13%, or 48.5 million kilo LME, compared with growth of 2.12%, or 41.6 million kilo LME, through June. UK dairy exports YTD July Commodity 2025 2026 ∆ ∆% SMP 45,041 57,962 12,921 28.69% WMP 6,307 9,729 3,422 54.26% Whey 41,563 35,632 -5,931 -14.27% WPC80/WPI's 11,934 12,480 546 4.58% Lactose 6,577 5,399 -1,178 -17.91% FFMP 1,479 1,595 116 7.84% I/F 7,731 6,246 -1,485 -19.21% Cheese 116,777 135,765 18,988 16.26% Butter 16,468 21,163 4,695 28.51% AMF 12,111 9,936 -2,175 -17.96% Cream 26,904 21,908 -4,996 -18.57% Fermented 25,035 25,878 843 3.37% Condensed 30,265 38,579 8,314 27.47% Milk 479,902 360,889 -119,013 -24.80% As in the previous two months, imports declined in July, falling by 1.37%, or 5.5 million kilo LME. This followed a decrease of 1.25%, or 4.8 million kilo LME, in June. UK dairy imports July Commodity 2025 2026 ∆ ∆% SMP 937 1,158 221 23.59% WMP 792 1,482 690 87.12% Whey 6,360 6,634 274 4.31% WPC80/WPI's 1,182 1,459 277 23.43% Casein 413 423 10 2.42% Caseinates 18 46 28 155.56% MPC 281 276 -5 -1.78% Lactose 590 422 -168 -28.47% I/F 4,456 3,505 -951 -21.34% Cheese 42,675 44,192 1,517 3.55% Butter 3,017 3,020 3 0.10% AMF 595 387 -208 -34.96% Cream 4,156 1,710 -2,446 -58.85% Fermented 30,047 30,860 813 2.71% Condensed 5,994 4,268 -1,726 -28.80% Milk 21,262 17,736 -3,526 -16.58% Seven product categories recorded lower imports, while WMP, WPC80/WPI, and caseinates showed strong growth.YTD imports have remained negative for most of the year, although the deficit has become more modest compared with earlier in the year. Through July, imports were down 0.76%, or 20.4 million kilo LME, improving from a decline of 1.72%, or 39.4 million kilo LME, through June. UK dairy imports YTD July Commodity 2025 2026 ∆ ∆% SMP 8,394 10,841 2,447 29.15% WMP 9,513 10,140 627 6.59% Whey 42,058 36,794 -5,264 -12.52% WPC80/WPI's 9,756 9,072 -684 -7.01% Casein 2,387 2,590 203 8.50% Caseinates 295 274 -21 -7.12% MPC 1,213 2,338 1,125 92.75% Lactose 4,844 2,829 -2,015 -41.60% I/F 31,806 26,491 -5,315 -16.71% Cheese 274,622 283,987 9,365 3.41% Butter 27,396 30,057 2,661 9.71% AMF 4,612 1,737 -2,875 -62.34% Cream 16,246 15,617 -629 -3.87% Fermented 186,180 201,560 15,380 8.26% Condensed 32,569 31,352 -1,217 -3.74% Milk 139,435 123,736 -15,699 -11.26% The YTD July change in dairy stocks and domestic consumption amounted to -137 million kilo LME, equivalent to 1.58% of YTD July milk production.