Although December deliveries were down 4.45% on the same month in 2015, milk supply in Italy increased by 2.5% in 2016 to 11.44m tonnes, according to AGEA data published last week by SIAL.

Monthly milk supply in Europe’s sixth-largest milk producer was above 2015 levels for nine months in 2016. In May, production was 0.59% lower than the same month in 2015, 2.34% lower in June and a 4.45% drop in December.

Production in Italy rallied in the first few months of 2016, up 4.9% in January, 11.1% in February and 7.2% in March. July to November also saw monthly milk supply remain between 2.2% to 3% ahead of year-earlier levels.

Italian dairy farmers had applied to reduce production by 23,860 tonnes or 0.89% in the fourth quarter under the EU Voluntary Milk Reduction Scheme.

In the end, the country’s collections for the final three months of the year came in at 2.7m tonnes, representing a marginal increase of 0.05% on year-earlier levels.

EU

Across the EU, milk production figures for December have not yet been finalised, although Eurostat data for the first 11 months of the year shows that supply is running 0.8% ahead of year-earlier levels.

EU monthly milk supply in 2016 ran behind 2015 levels from June, with largest monthly declines seen in October and November at 3.4% and 3.6% behind the previous year’s levels respectively. However, significant monthly increases earlier in the year, such as up 10.5% in February and 6.2% in March, has kept total supply for 2016 up.

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