Romania imported 30,200 tonnes of raw milk in Q1 2023, down 13.4% compared to the same period last year, while the quantity of milk collected by the processing units increased by 13.4% in the mentioned period, totalling 289,740 tonnes, according to data published on Monday by the National Institute of Statistics (INS), write Agerpres.

The largest increase in production in Q1 2023 was recorded in cream for consumption (+1%), namely 15,878 tonnes, while the largest decrease was recorded in butter production (-13.2%), the quantity obtained being 2,416 tonnes.

According to the cited source, the production of drinking milk in Q1 2023 was 90,296 tonnes, down 7% compared to the same period in 2022 (97,130. tonnes). Production of acidified milk, which includes yoghurt, drinking yoghurt, whipped milk and other similar dairy products, also fell by more than 10% in the mentioned period, from 56,996 tonnes last year to 51,214 tonnes this year.

As for the cheese segment, there was a slight increase in production (+0.86%) to 22,738 tonnes, of which cow’s milk cheese accounted for the largest quantity, 21,874 tonnes, down slightly from 21,953 tonnes in Q1 2022.