China's rising dairy self-sufficiency knocks global trade

China increased its dairy production by 11m tonnes from 2018 to 2023.

China's increase of 11m metric tonnes of dairy production from 2018 to 2023 is having a major impact on the global dairy trade.

After a year of global milk prices averaging around 37c per litre, market analysts at Rabobank have said China reaching self-sufficiency in milk production has left an indelible mark on the world dairy industry.

They said this has been starkly evident in the country’s dwindling imports of whole milk powder, which nosedived from an average of 670,000 metric tons (2018-2022) to 430,000 metric tons in 2023.