A year ago we wrote in these lines that China was stockpiling foodstuffs as if preparing for war. Nobody imagined the current context. Today we could observe that the US is following the same strategy.
In April 2021 we talked about the speculations in the market due to the growth of Chinese food imports. At that time, everyone was looking at a possible invasion of Taiwan by the Asian giant, it seemed to be the only possible conflict on the horizon. Perhaps the Chinese already knew something of what was to come.
It became clear that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was not in the papers of any Western leader. But, it seems, today everyone is speculating that the conflict may be extended in time and even widened.
eDairyNews was present at the Annual Conference of the American Dairy Products Institute and the American Butter Institute (ADPI/ABI 2022) in Chicago, and there we were able to learn about the current situation of the world dairy market.
In the USA there is a very important shift in production towards cheese, which is causing a decrease in the volume of local milk powder. This is largely due to the large investment that DFA has made with Glambia in Indiana. This new, modern, fully robotized plant demands a lot of milk, which has weakened the milk powder and buttermilk chains.
The local U.S. market is now about 1% short of milk, in the face of strong demand. The biggest problem observed by farmers is that of generational turnover. In view of this problem, DFA is promoting the investment of its producer partners to bring young people to the farm with the incorporation of state-of-the-art technology.
The demand continues and will continue to be strong in the coming months, even with the decrease in Chinese purchases due to its particular Covid enclosure. Today, the biggest problem that China imposes on the world is the great logistical bottleneck. It is estimated that the inconveniences may last until the end of the year.
In the meantime, and in silence, North America is trying to promote food stockpiling, the drums of war continue to beat.
Source: eDairyNews
