US gears more towards export markets

The US continues to direct more milk into skim milk powder (SMP) production as global market returns exceed that available on the domestic market.  An increasing number of dairy processors are setting up plants that have the capability to produce milk powder that matches export market specification.   During September production of SMP increased by 24.3% year-on-year to 24,500 tonnes while production of nonfat dry milk (NFDM) decreased by 9.6% to 34,650 tonnes.  Stocks of NFDM within the US are 24.1% higher than they were a year ago, despite decreasing by 24.6% during the month of September. Cheese production slowed compared with the previous month, but this still amounted to over 400,000 tonnes of cheese being manufactured in September.  This was a 2.3% increase from September 2012. Nearly 61,000 tonnes of butter was produced in September, a 1.9% decrease from September 2012 and a 1.6% drop from August 2013.