CWT Assists with 8.9M Pounds of Cheese, Butter Exports

By CnAgri Print

Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) has accepted 41 requests for export assistance from Dairy Farmers of America, Darigold, Foremost Farms, Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative, Michigan Milk Producers Association and United Dairymen of Arizona to sell 7.547 million pounds (3,423 metric tons) of Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese and 1.318 million pounds (598 metric tons) of butter to customers in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. The product will be delivered December 2012 through June 2013.

In 2012, CWT has assisted member cooperatives in making export sales of Cheddar, Monterey Jack and Gouda cheese totaling 123.2 million pounds, butter totaling 72.4 million pounds, anhydrous milk fat totaling 127,868 pounds and whole milk powder totaling 171,961 pounds. The product is going to 36 countries on four continents. On a butterfat basis, the milk equivalent of these exports is 2.718 billion pounds.

Assisting CWT members through the Export Assistance program positively impacts producer milk prices in the short-term by helping to maintain inventories of cheese and butter at desirable levels. In the long-term, CWT's Export Assistance program helps member cooperatives gain and maintain market share, thus expanding the demand for U.S. dairy products and the farm milk that produces them.

CWT will pay export bonuses to the bidders only when delivery of the product is verified by the submission of the required documentation.