The price paid to milk producers in Rio Grande do Sul is expected to close May with a monthly decrease of 3.38%.

The Joint Council of Milk Producers/Industries of Rio Grande do Sul (Conseleite/RS) projects a reference value for milk in May of R$ 2.4478, 3.38% lower than the previous month's projection (R$ 2.5333). This reduction is the first after months of increases and follows a national trend, indicated the coordinator of Conseleite, Kaliton Prestes. “This is a moment that demands attention from the dairy sector, which had been managing to recover some of its losses in recent months. We are concerned, but not surprised,” Prestes stated, explaining that the indicator confirms what had already been observed in the market in recent weeks. The situation is particularly aggravated by the excessive influx of powdered milk and cheeses from Argentina and Uruguay, which “enter Brazil at an extremely delicate moment,” warned Prestes. Alerted by the imports that have been flooding the Brazilian market with milk from the Plata region, Conseleite has been demanding support from the Brazilian government. In May, the group sent an official letter to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAPA), the Ministry of Agrarian Development (MDA), and the Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services (MDIC) alerting them to the situation. In parallel, the sector is preparing a dossier documenting the commercial impasses affecting the production chain. The idea of the entities that make up the group is to send a new document to the ministries and the Presidency of the Republic demanding that the vote in the Foreign Trade Chamber (CAMEX) be in favor of applying anti-dumping measures to protect the Brazilian market. An additional concern for the dairy sector in the coming weeks is the impact of the weather on milk production in Rio Grande do Sul, given the projection of intense cold and reduced pastures, factors that generally reduce milk production per animal in the field. During the meeting held on Tuesday morning (May 26th), Conseleite also released the consolidated milk price for April, which closed at R$ 2.5664, 8.19% above the final reference value for March (R$ 2.3721). The data released by Conseleite is compiled by UPF based on information provided by the industries, considering the activity of the first 20 days of the month. 

This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.