Milk Deliveries for Processing Decline for Five Consecutive Months

According to the analytical service of the Union of Dairy Enterprises of Ukraine, citing data from the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, total deliveries in September decreased by 3.2% compared with August and by 4.4% compared with July.

«A decline in the volume of raw milk delivered for industrial processing has been recorded for five consecutive months, starting in May, when more than 335,000 tonnes were supplied,» the experts noted.

Overall, during the first nine months of 2026, processing enterprises received almost 2.83 million tonnes of raw milk (on the Ukrainian standard basis), which is 4.3% less than in the corresponding period of 2025.

In September, dairy farms (MTFs) supplied 263,000 tonnes of raw milk for industrial processing, accounting for 87.5% of the total volume. This was the lowest monthly figure in 2026. Deliveries decreased by 3.2% compared with August and by 3.8% compared with July. A decline in raw milk deliveries from dairy farms for industrial processing has been recorded for five consecutive months, starting in May (288,000 tonnes).

Overall, during the first nine months of 2026, dairy farms supplied processors with more than 2.47 million tonnes of raw milk (87.4% of the total volume), which is 4.9% more than in the previous year. For comparison, the growth rate during the same period last year was 7.6%.

Household farms supplied 0.14 million tonnes of milk for processing during the first nine months of 2026, significantly less than in the corresponding period last year (almost 0.16 million tonnes; -11%). In addition, almost 0.22 million tonnes were supplied between January and September 2026 by intermediaries who also purchase raw milk mainly from household farms. Compared with last year, volumes increased by more than 10%.

Meanwhile, the purchase price of raw milk from dairy farms increased to UAH 15.3/kg in September (on the Ukrainian standard basis), reaching its highest level in 2026. Compared with the July price (UAH 14.15), the September price increased by more than 8.2%, while compared with February, when the lowest price of 2026 was recorded, it rose by 12%.

The current purchase price of raw milk from dairy farms has approached the level recorded in December 2025, and in October, according to estimates by the Union of Dairy Enterprises of Ukraine, it will approach the level of November 2026.

«The average purchase price of raw milk from dairy farms in the fourth quarter of 2026 is likely to exceed the average purchase price of raw milk from dairy farms in the fourth quarter of 2025. This means that dairy processing enterprises will have to operate with higher raw milk prices during this period than they did last year,» analysts forecast.