China’s dairy industry increases output

China’s dairy industry is finding its feet after a shaky few years. But it’ll still need plenty of dairy produce from Australia to help.

China’s dairy industry is starting to stabilise after a rollercoaster period punctuated by rolling coronavirus lockdowns.

Official figures released by the Chinese Government recorded a 1 per cent rise in national milk production between January and June this year to more than 15 million tonnes.

The data from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology also showed in June alone, dairy production stood at 2.75 million tonnes nationwide.

Australian Dairy Farmers president Rick Gladigau said China would remain a net importer of dairy for the foreseeable future.

“Australian dairy is hugely popular in China,” he said. “It’s known as a safe, reliable source for milk and other dairy products.”

Australian dairy remains popular with Chinese consumers

China remains Australia’s number one destination for dairy exports, strained relations between Canberra and Beijing in the past three years.

Nearly 400,000 litres of dairy produce was shipped to China from Australia last year, about quadruple the quantity of the second-placed Singapore.

“While there may have been a one per cent increase (in Chinese production), there’s still plenty of space for Australian dairy to do well in China,” Mr Gladigau said.

“Australia also has strong export links with Japan and a number of South-East Asia nations, but China has remained the number one market.”

More than 40 per cent of imported dairy produce to China emanates from New Zealand.

The Netherlands is silver medallist in the dairy import race, with more than 17 per cent of foreign dairy in Chinese supermarkets from Holland.

Australia is bronze medallist with a tad over 7 per cent of the Chinese market, although its market position has grown significantly in recent years.