Russian dairy exports up, and to China

Russian exports of cheeses and cottage cheese increased 23% to 27,000 tonnes in 2024. Credit: Vika, stock.adobe.com
Russia exported dairy products worth US$370 million in the first 11 months of 2024, up 20% year-on-year, the Ministry of Agriculture‘s Agroexport Centre said, citing expert estimates, Interfax.com has reported. More than 30% of revenue came from cheeses and cottage cheese, 22% from fermented dairy products, 14% from ice cream, 11% from powdered milk, 9% from milk and cream and 6% from dry whey.
In physical terms, Russian companies exported 31,000 tonnes of milk and cream in that timescale, up 9% year-to-year. Exports of cheeses and cottage cheese increased 23% to 27,000 tonnes, powdered milk was up 31% to 18,000 tonnes, and ice cream exports increased 11% to 14,000 tonnes.
The largest consumers of Russian dairy products were Kazakhstan, Belarus and Uzbekistan.
In January-November, China entered the top five buyers of Russian dairy products for the first time. Exports to China were up 70% year-on-year, to $16 million. In particular, the value of powdered milk sales to China doubled, cheese and cottage cheese exports’ value grew 12-fold, ice cream exports’ value increased 58% and milk and cream sales grew more than three-fold. The main supplies to non-CIS foreign markets are from the exchange group: non-fat and whole powdered milk and dry whey. Exports of these products grew 26%, 67% and 11%, respectively, in nine months.
Russian dairy product exports could exceed $700 million by 2030, according to Agroexport estimates.