English

Agriculture ministry projects dairy exports to reach 4.2 million tons this year

The Belarusian agriculture ministry projects that its dairy exports will reach 4.2 million tons of milk this year, First Deputy Minister Nadzeya Katkavets told reporters in Minsk on Monday.

Exports of meat and meat products are projected at 160,000 tons, she said.

Ms. Katkavets said that exports of milk powder and butter generated the biggest profits. “They give us a profitability rate of 40 percent and higher,” she said.

Two years ago, the ministry’s exports of milk powder were unprofitable, she noted. “Today we make profits from all sales,” she said. “But in the domestic market, whole milk products are either unprofitable or generate a profitability rate of only two percent.”

In 2010, the agriculture ministry’s enterprises reportedly exported $2.2 billion worth of products, securing a total surplus of $1.5 billion in their foreign trade.

At a board meeting held by the ministry on January 26, Minister Mikhail Rusy said that Belarus’ exports of agricultural products were projected to increase by 16 to 17 percent to $2.6 billion this year, which he noted would enable the ministry to meet its trade surplus target set at $1.56 billion.

He stressed that the country's deficit in foreign trade in goods had reached its highest level of $9.7 billion in 2010. //BelaPAN