IDF launches World Dairy Situation Report 2020

The International Dairy Federation’s latest overview of the dairy sector, covering markets worldwide, global trends and preliminary Covid-19 impacts has been released. The latest edition of its flagship publication on global dairy markets, the World Dairy Situation Report 2020, was unveiled at a special online launch event. This publication is produced annually by IDF as part of its mission to represent and support the dairy sector globally.

The 2020 edition is the result of close collaboration between dairy experts and key organisations around the globe and within the IDF. The report contains information about the international dairy sector, including data tables, graphs, country reports and analyses for more than 50 dairy-producing countries from all five continents.

It also provides an in-depth understanding of the current macro supply and demand trends affecting the dairy sector. Its statistics will help the reader to better understand and deal with the many challenges and opportunities facing the global dairy market.

At the launch, Mélanie Richard, head of economy for France’s CNIEL, noted there is “high uncertainty going forward, and we don’t know to what extent the recession will hit, as we are looking at the highest recession since World War II. Increased poverty will have an impact on the quantity and quality of dairy consumed.”

Gilles Froment, chair of the IDF standing committee on dairy policies and economics, also stated there would hopefully be a rebound in 2021: “I hope that it’s true, but I suspect the start of 2021 might be a bit rocky too. Hopefully we can move quickly on.”

In response to a question about the US cheese prices remaining high, Richard stated: “The US government has been investing to buy cheese for food assistance programmes, which has given the market some confidence, and has taken some cheese out of the normal market.”

Richards also conceded plant-based alternatives are a trend, and some dairies are even adding these products to their ranges. “The trend won’t disappear, but I’m not sure it will accelerate,” she said.

Another trend she thought had more staying power was the growing local and national consumption patterns from the pandemic. “It was already a trend for consumers, looking for more local products. For most of 2020, there was less tourism and people stayed largely in their own countries. It changed consumption patterns and does not look like a normal year, but local demand is accelerating, particularly for Europe.”

IDF director general Caroline Emond noted of the report: “The World Dairy Situation 2020 is an essential read for decision-makers and dairy sector stakeholders concerned with continuously changing global dairy market conditions. To further meet the needs of our sector in this challenging period, the 2020 edition of the report also features a special chapter dedicated to the preliminary impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on the dairy sector, including details on how the sector is adapting its practices to continue to produce safe and sustainable milk and dairy products.”

The  report not only consists of written chapters on production, processing, prices, consumption, and trade, but is expanded with 30 tables that give the reader an overview of global dairy developments.

For the added convenience, these tables, which cover the dairy sector, and are accompanied by illustrative graphs, are available in electronic format, enabling direct use in the reader’s own documents. In this year’s issue, a full chapter is dedicated to the preliminary impact of the coronavirus crisis on the global dairy sector in 2020.

Until 15 November 2020, it is possible to buy the report for the reduced price of €350. After that date, the cost will revert to the full of price €500.

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