Liconsa will invest 18m pesos in a Mazatlán milk centre

Public collection capacity

Liconsa has approved a budget allocation of 18m pesos for the project in Mazatlán. The receiving centre will be located beside the highway at kilometre 21, near the community of El Recreo, on land provided under a loan-for-use arrangement.

Livestock organisations in southern Sinaloa said that physical adaptation and the installation of equipment are scheduled for completion around February of the next cycle. They expect formal commercial collection to start between February and March. The facility is intended to bring hundreds of small and medium-sized farms into Liconsa’s institutional purchasing scheme.

The centre’s engineering plan includes rapid-cooling tanks with continuous thermal insulation. Raw milk will be cooled to 4°C from the unloading ramp. The proposed laboratory will test acidity, density, butterfat and protein, as well as screen for antibiotic residues before the milk is transferred to the main tanks.

Prices and local supply

The federal guaranteed price set out for purchases is 11.50 pesos per litre. Producers in Mazatlán, Concordia and Rosario have traditionally sold to small cheese-makers and informal buyers. The source reports that prices in periods of abundant pasture have fallen to between seven and eight pesos per litre.

Milk farms in the coastal region face higher costs for feed, energy concentrates, mineral supplements and veterinary treatments. Nutrition accounts for about 70% of the operating cost attributed to each litre produced, according to the report. The planned centre will give producers a nearby delivery point, reducing the distance travelled by milk from manual morning milking operations in grazing areas.

The project forms part of a wider public purchasing network in Sinaloa. A separate rehabilitation project is planned for a dairy centre in Ahome, which would link the northern and southern parts of the state with the drying and pasteurisation plants serving the social-supply system.