In response to recent demands from some milk producers (farmers) for an increase in the protective purchase price of milk from the current 2.40 kuna per liter to three kuna per liter, the association Croatiastočar, which brings together processors, issued a statement.
Lider wrote about the problems in the dairy industry in its latest issue, and the director of Croatiastočar, Branko Bobetić, reiterated in this statement that merely increasing the protective price of milk is not a sufficient incentive measure that will lead to an increase in milk production in Croatia. He notes that the purchase prices of milk in Croatia are five percent higher compared to European prices and are formed on a market basis on a monthly level as a quarterly average of purchase prices of milk in EU 25 countries. This year, the purchase prices of milk in EU countries and in Croatia have risen, with the purchase price in October of this year being 20 percent higher compared to the same period last year. However, despite this increase and the higher purchase price of milk in Croatia compared to Europe, Croatiastočar emphasizes that milk production in Croatia is declining. The trend of declining production has been recorded since 2009 and continues in the current year. In the first nine months of this year, 7.7 percent less milk was purchased compared to the record year of milk production in 2009.
Bobetić sees the causes of this situation primarily in the fact that in the first nine months of this year, the number of mainly small milk producers decreased by 15 percent compared to the previous year. There are several reasons for the reduction in the number of milk producers, and thus the breeding stock; in 2010, the operational program that stimulated producers to invest in milk production by ensuring them a return of 50 percent of capital investments was halted. At the same time, the availability of credit lines for dairy production has decreased, and their cost has increased. Unfavorable weather conditions and floods, in addition to causing significant damage to farmers, have hindered optimal feed preparation for dairy cattle. With an already low milk yield per cow in Croatia, which is about 35 percent lower compared to the yield in EU 25 countries, this situation, if negative trends are not stopped, will certainly lead to the collapse of the entire dairy sector.
At the same time, he emphasizes, there has been a decrease in the consumption of milk and dairy products in the first nine months of this year by five percent due to reduced purchasing power of consumers, as evidenced by the overall decline in retail in Croatia. The reduced purchasing power of consumers has led to decreased consumer prices of milk and dairy products, which are recording a downward trend. Furthermore, for the first time in several years, the dairy industry recorded a decline in the export of drinking milk and dairy products in the first nine months of 2010. The reduced consumption of milk and dairy products in Croatia partially mitigates the imbalance between milk production and Croatia’s real needs for fresh raw milk.
