US cheese and butter are price competitive

ZISK
Dec 16, 2024
1 min read

Almost 4.4 billion pounds of U.S. dairy products have been exported year-to-date through October, according to the United States Dairy Export Council. That’s up 2% or 83 million pounds over the same period for 2023. The sale of U.S. dairy products to our foreign customers is critical for the U.S. dairy industry and can happen at this accelerating pace with price competitive products.

Competition among the top three exporters

U.S. butter and cheese are selling well below prices from the other top two dairy export players, New Zealand and the European Union (EU). All the while, U.S. whey proteins are selling at prices higher than whey produced in those regions. This makes for a unique market situation.

In 2024, only from mid-August through early September were U.S. cheese prices higher than the EU and New Zealand. The price spread between the U.S. and the EU and New Zealand prices sat between 40 cents and 50 cents per pound in January and March. That spread has widened through November and December to between 45 cents and 60 cents per pound. Because cheese from New Zealand and the EU is more expensive, the U.S. is well-positioned with a competitive advantage in the cheese export market.

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