An extra 12,000t of dairy products exported for the period equated to an extra A$9.5 million of revenue. Total dairy exports were worth A$1.4 billion to the end of December.
Higher volumes of skimmed milk powder were exported for the period but at a much cheaper price. The largest volume by commodity was up 15% from a year ago to 93,000t but at the same time this commodity earned 17% less.
Milk was the next largest commodity group by volume and increased for the season-to-date by 8%. The value by was up 9%.
Export volumes of butter are almost half of what they were a year ago with value declining at a similarly corresponding rate of 42%, down A$34m to A$47m.
Volumes of cheddar exported were up slightly for the period by more than 4% but value declined by 2.6%. Other cheese, however, increased in volume by 14% and increased in value at a slightly lower rate of 12%.
Whole milk powder volumes moved by 1800t down 5% to 35,000t. The value of WMP exports increased by 46%, adding the most extra revenue by commodity of A$80m over the period, to a total of A$250m.
AgriHQ dairy analyst Susan Kilsby said Australian dairy exporters have done well to lift their WMP returns in the current market.
“Australia produces a lot less WMP than NZ does so has the ability to cherry pick markets to a greater degree, but they are also adding value to their exports by selling mik powder packed for the consumer market.”
This has resulted in Australian exporters achieving considerably higher prices than their NZ counterparts.
“Australia’s exports of WMP to China averaged US$7000/t in the final quarter of 2015 versus NZ WMP which achieved an average priced of US$2300/t,” Kilsby said.
The mixtures category saw a 2% reduction in volumes exported but a 2% increase in value. It was the fourth-largest earning category behind other cheeses, SMP and WMP.
