The volume of domestic milk intake by creameries and pasteurisers saw a 1.8% decrease when compared with March 2022 and down by 4.3% when compared with March 2021, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
In the figures released today (Wednesday, May 3) there was an estimated intake of 793.8 million litres by creameries and pasteurisers for March 2023, compared to 808.6 million litres in March 2022.
Dr. Grzegorz Glaczynski, statistician for the CSO, commented: “Domestic milk intake declined by 0.3% (4.1 million litres) during the period January to March 2023, compared with the same period in 2022.”
Among the latest statistics provided by the CSO it was highlighted that butter production decreased by 3,600t from 24,400t in March 2022 to 20,800t in March 2023.
The latest figures also provide a breakdown of fat and protein content of the 793.8 million litres that Irish creameries and pasteurisers took in last month.
“Fat content increased to 4.34% in March 2023 from 4.33% in March 2022, while protein content dropped to 3.31% from 3.33% over the same period”, Dr. Grzegorz Glaczynski.
The statistics office also noted the amount of milk used for human consumption; March 2023 saw less consumption, with a provisional 43 million litres, compared to March 2022 with 43.2 million litres.
However, skimmed milk powder is on the up. Data shows that there’s an increase of 600t, with the CSO statistics recording 10,300t for March 2023, whereas the March 2022 figure was 9,700t.
Global milk prices
In other dairy news, The Global Dairy Trade (GDT) price index has reported its second increase in a row following the latest trading event.
As a result of trade event 331 held yesterday (Tuesday, May 2), the price index rose by 2.5%.
This follows an increase of 3.2% after the previous auction on April 18, which marked the first gain for the dairy commodity index since February.
Despite the two recent bounces, the GDT index remains at levels last seen in late 2020.