cheese,
imports
Cheese production in Ukraine will be declining under pressure from growing imports
Ukrainian cheese makers are now in a difficult situation. On the one hand, growing imports of cheap European cheeses are putting pressure on the market; on the other hand, fresh dairy producers keep the purchase prices of milk high preventing cheesemakers from lowering them.
As a result, the profitability of many manufacturers is scanty, and the activities of some cheese factories are completely unprofitable.
Even now, when the hryvnia exchange rate has fallen, the cost of buying European cheeses such as Gouda/Edam rarely exceeds 115 UAH/kg (delivery and customs clearance included). Traders-importers easily sell such cheese to distributors at 125 UAH/kg. Ukrainian cheesemakers offer ordinary cheeses to these distributors, as a rule, not cheaper than 160 UAH/kg.
Export trade cannot save, it is scanty and the price is not high. Therefore, it is not surprising that many cheese making enterprises do not withstand competition, reducing production volumes.
Last month, production of rennet cheese along with cheese products decreased by another 4% down to 9.8 thousand tons. And for the whole of 2019, in comparison with 2018, the output decreased by about 17%, to 128 thousand tons, though mainly due to cheese products decrease in production. Infagro analysts believe that only a little more than 60 thousand tons of real hard and semi-hard cheeses have been produced, and they assume that in the current year cheese production in Ukraine will fall by another 5-7% due to the increase in cheese imports.