Declaration of fact: in December, Ukraine sent 10.38 thousand tons of dairy products abroad, earning $25.92 million. The number is not significant, but then what is our strength? Compared to November, export volumes fell by 0.3%, foreign exchange earnings fell by -6%. But here is room for pride: in annual terms, we rose by 44% in physical volumes and 51% in money, as always, thanks to the unwavering spirit of milk producers.
In 2025, from January to December, Ukraine exported 131.91 thousand tons of dairy products, an increase of 12% compared to last year. Foreign exchange earnings? It rose by 35%, to 401.36 million dollars. This is the result!
December brought us not only crises, but also victories in exports: milk and cream sowed our fields with 2.09 million dollars (+11%), condensed milk with cream – 9.23 million (+5%), fermented milk products added 984 thousand dollars (+32%), ice cream was sold for 1.29 million dollars (+10%), and butter earned 5.41 million dollars (+7%). But it was not without a fall: whey fell to 1.11 million dollars (-23%), cheeses decreased to 5.8 million dollars (-5%).
When we talk about annual results, condensed milk and cream are impressive – +68%. Fermented milk products? In general, +78%. But whey collapsed by 5%. Although this should not be surprising when imports become a threat.
In December 2025, we imported 6.52 thousand tons of dairy products worth $37.28 million. Import volumes increased by 17% compared to November, but fell by 14% year-on-year. Condensed milk is flooding our market, destroying our regional production potential.
At the end of the year, imports of dairy products reached 64.69 thousand tons (+7%) for 337.93 million dollars (+16%). Traditionally, cheeses accounted for 65% of total imports. Our association is in trouble: negative foreign trade balance – -11.36 million dollars. Why? Because we buy cheap condensed milk and cheeses from abroad, not paying attention to our own resources.
The situation on the butter market is critical. After an active summer, we found ourselves in a difficult situation – warehouses are overflowing with unsold goods, domestic demand is at zero. Will we leave it like this? Production is declining, factories are suffering.
The real truth without embellishment – it's time to act before it's too late!
Original source: https://zaxid.net/
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