Dairy Product Exports to Asia Soar

Israel exported a total of $5 million in dairy products in the first quarter of 2017, 7 percent more than in the same period in 2016, the Israel Export Institute said in a new report. Much of that increase, the report said, could be attributed to a dramatic rise in exports to Asia. Exports to that region increased by over 20 percent during the first quarter of 2017, compared to the same period a year earlier.

During the first quarter, 53 percent of Israel’s dairy exports were sent to the United States, for sales totaling $2.7 million, 5 percent more than in Q1, 2016. First quarter exports to the European Union fell 10 percent over the period, for a total of $1.2 million in the first quarter of 2017. Exports to Asia were up 24 percent this quarter compared to the same period a year earlier, totaling $900,000

Total dairy exports for 2016 amounted to $17 million, a figure that was 29-percent lower than in 2015. Most of that reduction was due to a contraction of exports to Europe, which imported 60 percent less in dairy products during 2016, compared to 2015. Since 2006, exports have fallen by 23 percent, from $22 million during that year, to a total of $17 million in 2016.