The report from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service said the dairy sector in eastern Japan had been “devastated” by the disaster but the overall impact on the country’s milk supply is now thought to be limited.
Making repairs
Assessing the latest data, USDA said repairs have been conducted quickly and supply lines to Tokyo restored.
“The industry was able to quickly repair damaged farm facilities and milk factories, secure needed feed, fuel, and electricity, and arrange a means of transport to move raw milk and dairy products.
“As of May, it appears that most supplies of milk and dairy products in Tokyo and surrounding prefectures have been restored to pre-earthquake status and dairy products are back in stock on retail shelves.”
In the first month after the earthquake Tokyo suffered a major shortage of drinking milk and persistent electricity blackouts continued to affect yoghurt supplies well into April.
Radiation impact
In addition to the disruption caused by power supply problems and direct damage to facilities, the industry also had to dispose of over 33,000 MT of fluid milk worth YEN 3.3bn (€28.5m) amid concerns over radiation levels.
The woes for the Japanese dairy industry are compounded by weakness on the demand side.
USDA said: “Overall demand for drinking milk products in 2011 continues to remain sluggish, especially for regular milk, due to lethargic household and school consumption.”
In light of the weaker than expected supply and demand situation, the production outlook for 2011 has been reduced – milk output is now projected to drop 2.2 per cent from 2010 to 7.55 million MT.