Tendering system faulted for big cuts in dairy export refunds

A NEW system of tendering has been blamed for the EU Dairy Management Committee’s sharp cuts in export refunds for butter, skimmed milk powder and cheese.

Adjudication of the first tenders for export refunds since the system was introduced in early April resulted in bids on only 3,000 tonnes of Skim Milk Powder and 300 tonnes of butter, out of a total of 37,274t of SMP and 6,752 of butter submitted by traders.

The rate of export refund accepted was €47/100kg for SMP and €158/100kg for butter - respectively 27% and 11% cuts in the refunds.