2024 U.S. dairy exports begin with dawdling first month

January U.S. dairy export values revealed a listless start to 2024. But it is not all pessimism, as shredded cheese continues to bring encouragement to the marketplace. Here’s Progressive Dairy’s 30,000-foot look at dairy-related export categories. Record cheese shipments carry export market Cheese sales to Latin America – Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean – boosted overall U.S. cheese exports to a record 38,299 metric tons (MT), up 13% from January 2023. Shredded product continues to bolster the total cheese export category as shipments rose to 13,409 MT in January, twice that of a year ago. Additionally, high-protein whey exports (WPC80+) rose for the sixth straight month to a staggering 26% (1,139 MT) in January. The growth did not come from the market’s traditional buyers Japan and Brazil, but rather China, the Netherlands, India and Southeast Asia. This was welcomed news as soft global economic growth continues to weigh on U.S. dairy exports, and weak ...