The marketplace for milk producers and processors has consolidated and has accelerated in fresh years. This is simply a healthy process that makes the manufacture strong – the president of the Union of Polish Milk Processors evaluates. As he emphasises, this is peculiarly crucial in current marketplace realities linked to rising labour costs, energy, turbulence in exports and expanding competition in abroad markets. The agreement with Mercosur for dairy producers is not a major problem, but they believe that the position of agriculture in Europe is weakening compared to another industries.
Global milk prices have been steadily rising since 2024. The FAO milk price index was 152.6 points in August 2025, which means a decrease of 1.3% compared to July. This is the second consecutive monthly decrease, but at the same time a level of 16.2% above the erstwhile year. This decrease reflected lower global prices for butter, cheese and milk powder, which outweighed higher prices for skimmed milk powder.
– Currently, the dairy marketplace in Poland is stable. We are talking about both the prices paid to farmers and the prices of products, while there are less and less farmers, milk producers and little processors, so the marketplace is consolidating – says Newseria Marcin Hydzik, president of the Union of Polish Milk Processors. – This is simply a very healthy phenomenon. specified a strong market, the 3rd largest maker in Europe, needs strong players, besides in relations with the commercial networks, due to the fact that we besides have very strong exports. This is all moving towards a very strong marketplace with a tiny number of players.
As he emphasises, the consolidation process has been speeding up importantly in fresh years.
– So far it has been one-two connections for two-three years, now we can talk about connections almost all year and several. This is better than the bankruptcy of cooperatives or dairy businesses, but this is besides unfortunately the case. erstwhile a cooperative is not very attractive to possible buyers, then it must declare bankruptcy, due to the fact that the functioning of tiny entities is increasingly hard on the marketplace – This is the CEO of ZPPM.
In the European Union, the full supply of natural material to processing plants was only 0.3% higher than the year before. Clear declines occurred in Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands, i.e. countries of advanced importance for all EU production. Against the background of the European top, Poland stood out positively, which not only belonged to a group of countries with affirmative dynamics of natural milk production, but besides achieved the highest volume increase in the EU.
According to the expert, the manufacture has problems with advanced production costs, and in addition to rising labour or energy costs, these are, for example, the fees associated with the Agricultural Protection Fund, which the association of Polish dairy farmers opposed, arguing that in this way milk producers will finance possible losses incurred by suppliers of another agri-food natural materials. In their view, the amount of the payments fixed is not adequate to the hazard of insolvency of individual sectors. An additional cost for processors may be the extended work of the producer, which, in accordance with the plans presented to date, imposes levying and recycling fees on the packaging in which dairy products are sold.
– erstwhile costs increase, competitiveness naturally declines and weakens. We request to be aware that, for example, labour costs, which were a very crucial component of competitiveness, are no longer, and that surely affects our competitiveness in global markets. In another places, labour costs are inactive lower and lower than in Poland. That's why we gotta adjust in any way, look for fresh outlets, which is why we gotta fight for export. Marcin Hydzik emphasizes.
National consumption is increasing systematically, although it is hard to measure whether it is the effect of the natural increase in consumption among Poles, or whether Ukrainians who arrived after 2022, in which there was a reasonably sharp increase in consumption, have besides a large share. Surplus production is exported.
– In many erstwhile years we have made quite a few money on exports, but in the face of what is happening in the world, the situation of uncertainty, chaos, it is an increasingly risky business, due to the fact that markets are beginning up, closing down, there are transport obstacles, even though the issue of Belarus and the border, the issue of Taiwan, after all, there is the most serious trade way for the planet economy – indicates the expert. – We request to respond to what is happening in the planet and foretell where there may be difficulties to avoid them.
Recently the EU agreement with Mercosur, the 4 countries of South America, on facilitating common trade in agricultural products, has been an crucial subject for the agricultural sector. On 3 September the European Commission presented its proposals for an agreement and recommended that associate States adopt it. In the Commission's view, the agreement will reduce and destruct non-tariff tariffs and barriers while protecting more than 350 high-quality European food products. The tariff quota of 30 000 t of cheese represents almost 10 times the current volume of exports to the Mercosur countries, which gives EU milk exporters a crucial chance to develop. Polish milk processors, however, are afraid about the way contracts are made.
“The Mercosur Agreement can affect our situation in the long term, because, contrary to what is heard, milk production is there, and in any countries even rather important. But, of course, this is not the effect that beginning the marketplace would have on Ukrainian products, for example, due to the fact that this is simply a completely different scale. Geographical location is doing its job, too. – says ZPPM president. – On the another hand, I think that the agreement with the Mercosur countries shows that agriculture in Poland and Europe is weakening erstwhile it comes to its political position, due to the fact that the chemical, car industries are winning on it. Clearly, the political strength of agriculture in Europe is weakening and our interests are becoming little and little taken into account.
