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The decline of the dairy industry, the market is being replaced by imports, increase by 9% in January-February

Politiko 2023-03-06 08:12:54

The decline of the dairy industry, the market is being replaced by imports,

The amount of milk produced in the country is not meeting the demand of processing factories for the production of dairy products.

The high demand due to the lack of operators' stock and low supply has increased the pressure to increase the price of fresh milk produced by farmers.

Operators claim that with the start of the spring season, sheep's milk is being sold by livestock farmers at a price above 160 ALL per liter, reaching the level of 190 ALL per liter. Worrying for the sector is the high intake of milk from informal dairies.

Failure to meet demand from domestic production has forced companies to import milk. For the months of January-February 2023, imports increased 9% more compared to the same period last year according to Customs data. The upward trend of imports started already in 2022. The total imports of 2022 increased about 2% more than 2021.

Processing companies raise the concern of increasing the price of sheep's milk, but also of cow's milk at levels many times higher than other countries. Currently, according to company data, the price of cow's milk for countries such as Italy, France and Germany has decreased from 68 cents per liter to 58 cents per liter (58.6 ALL per liter), while the average sale price of cow's milk from the local farmer is 75 Lek per liter.

"The demand for milk is high, as all the processors are empty, they have no stored stock. This has led to sheep's milk being sold above the level of 160 Lek per liter without VAT, reaching up to 190 Lek per liter without VAT. Stabilization of cow's milk production appears to be slow, but the pressure to increase the price continues, when in many countries the price has decreased. This situation forces us to import. Not because the price of milk is cheaper abroad, as the high transport fees make the price very expensive, but there is no domestic production", one of the processing companies told Monitor.

For the months of January-February, 46% of milk imports come from Italy, 30% from Serbia, 10% from Kosovo and the rest from other countries.

Shoqata e Industrisë së Përpunimit të Qumështit pohon se aktualisht nuk ka rënie prodhimi, sepse çmimi është shumë i favorshëm për blegtorët, por sasia e prodhuar ende nuk plotëson kërkesën që ka sektori përpunimit.

Shqetësuese mbetet edhe informaliteti i lartë i sektorit. Një nga kompanitë nënvizoi se pranë fabrikës përpunuese në lumin e Vlorës numërohen rreth 25 baxho që operojnë në informalitet, pra që nuk paguajnë TVSH dhe të tjera detyrime, duke i konkurruar në mënyrë të padrejtë. “25 subjektet marrin mesatarisht nga 10 kv qumësht në ditë. Ka edhe nga ato baxho që përpunojnë edhe 30 kv qumësht në ditë. Në total llogariten 250 kv qumësht në ditë që shkon te përpunuesit informal. Fabrikës sonë i mbeten vetëm 10 kv qumësht në ditë. Kjo po dëmton përpunuesit e rregullt, madje duke rrezikuar daljen e tyre nga tregu”.

For the formalization of the market and the increase of domestic production, the companies recommend as a solution only the change of the milk subsidy scheme, by implementing a subsidy per liter so that the farmer is forced to issue/request an invoice and everyone will be formalized.

Meanwhile, the national agriculture scheme for 2023 will continue to support farms with subsidies per head, not for the amount of milk produced, a constant demand of the industry./ Monitor