Therefore, production of the cheese products will have reduced, and the excess milk redirected to the low-cost drying.

At the same time, manufacturers of cheeses do not feel any acute problems. Leading operators even dare to increase prices, although the profitability of their business is quite high. Only big cheese-makers raise prices. Small and medium-size producers are fighting for the shelves and reduce price to stimulate sales. So the price range in the market is very wide: traditional cheeses such as «Rossiyskiy» is offered to distributors at 125−155 UAH/kg. Directly in the network, such cheeses are delivered at 145−170 UAH/kg.

In April, problems with the export of cheese products did not affect the volume of foreign trade. It had been supposed to sell about 2,5 thousand tons, but in fact it appeared to be possible to export 3,8 thousand tons, which is almost equal to the volume of exports in the problem-free last year April. Although, it should be mentioned that the prices of the exports fell significantly, there are already sales even at 1800 USD/t. Of course, Kazakhstan, one of the largest buyers, immediately reacted to the problem of Ukrainian cheese exporters, reducing the price of demand even for permanent suppliers to the level of about 2200 USD/t.

In May, exports of cheese products will be significantly reduced, and the volumes of external sales of real cheeses will remain relatively stable.

Imports of cheese will increase, because the Polish cheese Gouda/Edam can now be purchased at about 113 UAH/kg. Compared with domestic products, this is a very competitive price.

infagro