MIV worries about Germany’s bottlenecks

Cost increases and massive bottlenecks are the two main worries of the German dairy industry, which now are even worse than during the economic crisis in 2008, says Karin Monke from the German dairy industry association (MIV), and she does not expect it to be better any time soon.

In Germany, the dairy industry has been particularly affected by rising energy costs, as Germany continues to have some of the highest electricity prices in Europe. It is not only a problem because milk and milk products must be cooled, heated and cooled again, but energy is also needed to make packaging.

The other main challenge is lack of suppliers and transport. Like other countries globally, the German dairy industry has a shortage of suppliers and truck drivers available, and there is also a transport problem on the seas. The difficulties in the logistics chain are especially seen in getting sea containers to customers and the associated rise in freight costs. This has tightened the situation for German dairies and more so with the increased demand from the US and China. In both countries the clearance of the goods in the ports is currently too slow, so that a queue in shipping is forming, which in turn blocks containers with dairy products from reaching customers.