CWT Assists with 1.2 Million Pounds of Dairy Product Export Sales

ARLINGTON, VA – Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) member cooperatives accepted two offers of export assistance from CWT that helped them capture sales contracts for 1.2 million pounds (546 MT) of American-type cheese. The product is going to customers in Central America and Oceania and will be delivered from January through May 2023.

CWT-assisted member cooperative year-to-date export sales total 93.3 million pounds of American-type cheeses, 657,000 pounds of butter (82% milkfat), 30.7 million pounds of whole milk powder and 8.8 million pounds of cream cheese. The products are going to 21 countries in six regions. These sales are the equivalent of 1.168 billion pounds of milk on a milkfat basis.

Assisting CWT members through the Export Assistance program positively affects all U.S. dairy farmers and cooperatives by fostering the competitiveness of US dairy products in the global marketplace and helping member cooperatives gain and maintain world market share for U.S dairy products. As a result, the program has helped significantly expand the total demand for U.S. dairy products and the demand for U.S. farm milk that produces those products.

The amounts of dairy products and related milk volumes reflect current contracts for delivery, not completed export volumes. CWT pays export assistance to the bidders only when export and delivery of the product is verified by required documentation.

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The Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) Export Assistance program is funded by voluntary contributions from dairy cooperatives and individual dairy farmers. The money raised by their investment is being used to strengthen and stabilize the dairy farmers’ milk prices and margins.

CWT-Assisted Dairy Export Sales Through October Reach 1.2 Billion Pounds

CWT member cooperatives secured 35 contracts in October adding 650,000 pounds of American-type cheeses, 628,000 pounds of butter, 20 million pounds of whole milk powder and 926,000 pounds of cream cheese to CWT-assisted sales in 2021. These products will go customers in Asia, Middle East-North Africa, Europe, Central America, Caribbean and South America, and will be shipped from October 2021 through March 2022.

CWT-assisted 2021 dairy product sales contracts year-to-date total 38.3 million pounds of American-type cheese, 13.3 million pounds of butter, 6.1 million pounds of anhydrous milkfat, 11.3 million pounds of cream cheese and 44 million pounds of whole milk powder. This brings the total milk equivalent for the year to 1.228 billion pounds on a milkfat basis.

Exporting dairy products is critical to the viability of dairy farmers and their cooperatives across the country. Whether or not a cooperative is actively engaged in exporting cheese, butter, anhydrous milkfat, cream cheese, or whole milk powder, moving products into world markets is essential. CWT provides a means to move domestic dairy products to overseas markets by helping to overcome U.S. dairy’s trade disadvantages.

The amounts of dairy products and related milk volumes reflect current contracts for delivery, not completed export volumes. CWT will pay export assistance to the bidders only when export and delivery of the product is verified by the submission of the required documentation.