Japan: Verification of the import quotas for butter and skim milk powder for fiscal year 2024

Press Release 1. Import quota for FY2024 Regarding import quotas under state trade, the quota for the entire next fiscal year will be announced in January, and verification will be carried out in May and September. The import quota for FY2024 was set in January of this year at 8,000 to 10,000 tons of butter and 750 tons of skim milk powder. 2. Current supply and demand situation While there is a strong demand for butter, mainly for commercial use, the demand gap between skim milk powder and butter continues, and the sluggish demand for skim milk powder and increased inventory are weighing on butter production. In the meantime, there was a heat wave last summer, and the butter inventory at the end of FY2023 was lower than the previous year. According to the industry forecast, the butter inventory at the end of FY2024 will be the same as at the end of FY2023, but this forecast does not take into account the possibility of a heat wave as intense as last summer. For this reason, the ...