BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan.28
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
The growth of imports of dairy products in 2020 continued in Georgia, Trend reports via Georgian media.
This once again emphasizes that there is still a high demand for dairy products in Georgia.
Exports have generally declined, although it should be emphasized that cheese exports continue to rise. Other exported products (butter and milk powder) are highly likely to be re-exported and, in this case, the least significant. Compared to 2019, the self-sufficiency indicator remained practically unchanged.
Imports in the equivalent of raw milk (amounted to 147 million liters, which is 1 million liters more than imports of raw milk in 2019 and this is a new record high import rate in one year.
Imports continued to be dominated by butter and milk powder, while imports of milk powder continued to decline from their peak in 2017 and fell by 25 percent compared to it (about 78 million liters).
The main reason for the decline in imports of milk powder, the jump in prices for milk powder in the world market.
Import of cheese remained at the average historical level (2014-2019) - 17 percent. The share of cream has more than doubled from 2 percent to 5 percent.
An important partner in the US, where a kilogram of cheese is sold for more than $8.
As reported, it is unlikely that there will be a significant increase in imports in 2021. The main reasons are the slowdown in economic growth in Georgia due to the pandemic, and high prices, and increased competition in world markets.
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