According to estimates published by the Central Statistics Offics on Friday, domestic milk intake by creameries and pasteurisers was estimated at 825.1 million litres for June 2015. This was 13.3% above the corresponding 2014 figure.

Year-on-year increases in production were 15.4% in April and 11.4% in May.

For the first time this year, sales of Irish milk on the domestic market were lower than in June last year, down 4.7%.

Most of the additional milk went to produce commodities, with butter output up 11.5% year-on-year and skimmed milk powder (SMP) up 23.6%.

Revised CSO figures for SMP production since the beginning of the year show a massive jump, with 54,600 tonnes produced compared to 34,000 tonnes in the first six months of 2014.

Powder production in May alone was in excess of 20,000 tonnes, instead of 12,300 tonnes as previously thought.

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