US Cheese Exports Remain Strong, US DEC Says
US dairy exports fell 5% from a year earlier in July, measured in milk solids equivalent, according to the US Dairy Export Council (US DEC). Export value nevertheless rose 16% to $984 million, or €846.6m. For the first seven months of the year, export volume was 9% higher and value was up 12%.
Cheese shipments increased 25% to 65,256 metric tons, the highest monthly total recorded. Mexico received 28% more US cheese, an increase of 4,914 tonnes, while shipments to South Korea rose 34%, or 2,052 tonnes. Exports to Australia climbed 59%, adding 2,006 tonnes, and those to South America grew 70%, an increase of 1,553 tonnes. Other smaller markets also recorded double-digit growth.
Shipments to the United Arab Emirates dropped 86%, or 427 tonnes. Sales to Saudi Arabia, however, rose 89%, adding 713 tonnes. The increase helped raise US cheese exports to the Middle East by 19%, or 327 tonnes, in July.
US exports of butterfat, covering butter and anhydrous milkfat, grew for a 26th consecutive month, although the increase was limited to 1%, or 166 tonnes. The gain came entirely from anhydrous milkfat, whose exports rose 23%, or 873 tonnes. Butter exports declined 8%, or 706 tonnes, marking their first year-on-year fall since May 2024.
The US DEC said the slower butterfat growth partly reflected comparisons with stronger results a year earlier. It also reported that global butter supplies had been increasing for several months and that the US price advantage had narrowed. In 2025, high prices and tight European supplies led to unusually large US shipments to the European Union: the Netherlands bought almost 6,000 tonnes during the year, including 1,245 tonnes in July. The country had averaged fewer than 80 tonnes a year in US butter purchases during the preceding decade and imported no US butter in July 2026. The Middle East and North Africa, as well as Mexico, continued to show growth in July, but the council said year-on-year butterfat gains would be more difficult through the end of the year.
Low-protein whey exports rose 19%, or 8,419 tonnes, as dry-whey shipments remained strong. The category includes dry whey, low-protein whey-protein concentrate and modified whey. Low-protein WPC exports fell 28%, or 3,719 tonnes, in July as processors prioritised products with protein concentrations of 80% or more. Domestic demand also limited exports of WPC80+, which fell 11%, or 774 tonnes, in July and were down 19% year to date. Dry-whey exports increased 76%, or 12,328 tonnes, in July, while year-to-date shipments exceeded 120,000 tonnes and were more than 50% above the previous year. Sales to China doubled, adding 6,042 tonnes; shipments to Canada increased 353%, or 4,171 tonnes; and exports to Japan rose 508%, or 971 tonnes.
