25pc of fresh milk sales comes from North

SOME 30pc of Northern Ireland’s milk supplies were imported south of the border last year for processing, with Northern milk accounting for 25pc of the fresh milk sales in the Republic, according to figures from the National Milk Agency.

Since 1996, imports of fresh milk for liquid consumption have grown from zero to an estimated 142m litres, while the market share of domestic supplies in the fresh milk market has fallen from 100pc in 1996 to 75pc in 2019.

Bulk milk imports from Northern Ireland for processing decreased by 12pc to 711m litres last year, of which 92pc were processed into manufactured dairy products and 8pc for liquid consumption.

But packaged milk imports from the North were estimated at 82m litres, an increase of 10m litres or 14pc on the previous year.

The Agency reported that in 2019 domestic milk supplies increased by 5pc to a record of almost 8bn litres.

And, while Irish consumers continue to have the highest per-capita consumption of fresh drinking milk in the world, with an annual consumption of 118 litres per person, it decreased by 1pc and only accounted last year for 5pc of domestic milk supplies, worth €514m.

In 2018/19, 1,680 milk supply contracts were registered with the

Agency in respect of 452m litres of milk.

For registered milk producers the annual average milk price for contracted milk supplies in 2019 was 34.8c/L, a decrease of 1.4c/L or 4pc on 2018.

In 2019, the Agency’s total income decreased to €497,749 from €506,526 in 2018, as income from milk levies decreased by €8,349 to €497,735. A levy of 0.115c/L of milk bought for processing for liquid consumption is payable by milk processors.