Fonterra, New Zealand's largest company, which is owned by around 10,500 farmers recorded a mixed set of figures for the 2017/2018 season. While production in general was down 1% across the country, there was an increase of 6% for May compared to the previous year. Australia, Europe, and the US also recorded slight rises in production for the month of May.

Markets

US, New Zealand, and Australian exports showed double-digit growth in May 2018, with European export figures also up.

Latin America, Asia and China showed steady import growth, while growth in Middle East and Africa accelerated throughout February of this year.

Fonterra collected 1.505bn kgMS from New Zealand farms for the year – down 1% on last season.

Forecasts in Fonterra's report don’t predict this fall to continue, with milk collection in New Zealand for the 2018/19 season predicted to be 1.525bn kgMS, up 1.3%.

Asian expansion

Fonterra is also bringing its dairy products to online markets in southeast Asia for the first time through a new partnership with Lazada, the leading online retailer in the region.

US milk production continues to rise

Fonterra milk collections down as season ends

New Zealand’s multinational dairy co-operative published its Global Dairy Update for June recently – the report shows a decrease in New Zealand milk collection for the season ending 31 May 2018.