The processing units in Romania collected, in the first seven months of the year, a quantity of 757,915 tonnes of cow’s milk, up 3.4% compared to the same period last year, while raw milk imports surged by 51.8%, totaling 83,061 tonnes, according to data published on Friday by the National Institute of Statistics (INS).

The production of dairy products recorded an increase in all components during the mentioned period, respectively for drinking milk, drinking cream, sour milk, butter and cheeses, the biggest increase in production being recorded for butter (+12.5%). The total amount of butter obtained between January 1 and July 31, 2024, was 6,526 tonnes.

For cheeses, the total production was 64,258 tonnes, 6.56% higher than that recorded between January 1 and July 31, 2023, of which 58,904 tonnes came from cow’s milk.

In July 2024, the amount of cow’s milk collected from agricultural holdings and collection centres by processing units decreased by 3.6% compared to June 2024, and increased by 2.1% compared to July 2023.

In July, compared to June 2024, dairy products recorded increases in production. The biggest increase in production was recorded for sour milk (+13.4%), totaling 20,053 tonnes, while the amount of butter produced in July was equal to that of June, 776 tonnes.

The amount of raw milk imported by processing units increased in July 2024 compared to the previous month by 20.1%, totaling 10,949 tonnes.

Compared to the corresponding month of the previous year, in July 2024 the amount of cow’s milk collected by the processing units increased by 2.1%. The largest increase in production was recorded for sour milk (+14.2%) in July 2024, compared to July 2023, given that the production of all dairy products was in surplus.

Regarding the amount of raw milk imported by processing units, it increased in July 2024 by 68.7% compared to the corresponding month of the previous year.

AGERPRES