Brazil buys milk powder to assist dairy farmers in opposition to imports

The federal government in Brazil is planning to purchase milk powder at retail costs in a bid to assist the nation’s dairy farmers in opposition to imports from different Mercosur international locations.

The announcement was made by Brazil’s Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Carlos Favaro, as he attended the Agroleite 2023 commerce present, being held within the nation’s “milk capital”, Castro.

The acquisition of powdered milk by the federal authorities is amongst a sequence of emergency measures to assist the nation’s milk producers.

The actions goal to “scale back the market and assure profitability to cooperatives and, consequently, to producers”.

Dairy in Brazil

Minister Favaro pledged to confront “unbridled imports” on behalf of Brazil’s President Lula da Silva.

In relation to the importation of milk into Brazil from international locations like Argentina and Uruguay, the minister famous that the settlement with Mercosur is a “delicate” one which is receiving the “full consideration” of the federal government.

“Mercosur is a vital commerce bloc for Brazil,” Favaro stated.

“We promote to those international locations manufactured merchandise that give us a whole lot of competitiveness, positive aspects and alternatives, however this can’t happen to the detriment of such an essential chain, which generates jobs, such because the milk chain.”

Along with the emergency measures, Favaro stated that extra actions will probably be wanted for Brazil’s dairy sector together with growing the adoption of extra applied sciences for milk manufacturing.

“Brazil, which is already a champion in soya manufacturing, within the export of soya, cotton, beef, pork, will certainly be a significant world participant in milk manufacturing and we now have to be devoted to make that occur,” he stated.

Brazil is the world’s sixth-largest milk producer. The US Division of Agriculture (USDA) forecasts that milk manufacturing within the Latin American nation will enhance by round 3.6% to 24.5 million metric tonnes (MMT) in 2023.

Commerce knowledge exhibits that milk powder imports to Brazil rose by 31% in March, with the overwhelming majority coming from Uruguay and Argentina.

The Brazilian dairy sector is continuous to grapple with excessive manufacturing prices, together with unpredictable climate and financial circumstances.