The Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. (PCAFI) considers the domestic dairy industry a severely underperforming sector no matter that it posted a 15 percent increase in milk production in the first half this year to 16,020 metric tons (MT) from last year’s 13,940 MT. It urged the government to continue supporting the industry.
Danilo Fausto, PCAFI president, said continued support is imperative given that milk production remains less than a percent of the country’s requirements even though the local Dairy Industry Development Act is over 40 years old.
“Milk is the basic formula for increasing the health and nutrition of children that leads to better learning and education. More focus and budget support for milk production should be a priority at the 2025 budget exercises by Congress and the Senate,” Fausto said in a message to reporters.
Data from the National Dairy Authority (NDA) show local milk production equals approximately 21 percent of liquid milk supply, or one glass of five glasses consumed.
Domestic milk production is supported by a dairy animal inventory of 151,059 heads that includes 34,754 dairy cattle, 80,805 dairy carabao and 35,500 dairy goats.
NDA data also show the majority of the country’s net milk and dairy supply is shipped from abroad and has increased by 12.7 percent in the first half this year to 1.65 million MT from 1.46 million MT in 2023.
Milk imports during the period also went up 12.9 percent, nearly the same as the country’s net supply. In value terms, milk imports fell 9.2 percent from $40.78 million to $37.01 million during the period.
Data show skim milk powder accounted for the largest share of imports of 40 percent, followed by milk powder and ready-to-drink milk that made up 17 percent and 4 percent, respectively.
The bulk or 31 percent of milk and dairy imports were from New Zealand, the United States with 23 percent and Indonesia with 5 percent.
The NDA said milk exports for the period surged 27.5 percent to 21,030 MT from 16,500 MT. These included the 17 percent share of cream milk, 16 percent cheese, seven percent whole milk powder and six percent skim milk powder.
Singapore and the United Arab Emirates were the leading destinations for Philippine dairy exports, accounting for 19 percent and 13 percent of the total export value, respectively.
Canada with 12 percent and the US with 11 percent are also considered major buyers of Philippine dairy goods.
The NDA said the gross earnings of the Philippine dairy sector also jumped 23.6 percent or P879.88 million in the first half of the year.
