Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) has accepted 4 requests for export assistance from cooperatives that have contracts to sell 1.213 million pounds (550 metric tons) of Cheddar cheese to customers in Asia and the Middle East. The product has been contracted for delivery in the period from February through May 2018.
CWT-assisted member cooperative 2018 export sales total 13.900 million pounds of American-type cheeses, and 1.590 pounds of butter (82% milkfat) to 11 countries on three continents. These sales are the equivalent of 164.063 million pounds of milk on a milkfat basis.
Assisting CWT members through the Export Assistance program in the long term helps member cooperatives gain and maintain market share, thus expanding the demand for U.S. dairy products and the U.S. farm milk that produces them. This, in turn, positively affects all U.S. dairy farmers by strengthening and maintaining the value of dairy products that directly impact their milk price.
The amounts of dairy products and related milk volumes reflect current contracts for delivery, not completed export volumes. CWT will pay export assistance to the bidders only when export and delivery of the product is verified by the submission of the required documentation.
The Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) Export Assistance program is funded by voluntary contributions from dairy cooperatives and individual dairy farmers. The money raised by their investment is being used to strengthen and stabilize the dairy farmers’ milk prices and margins. For more information about CWT, visit www.cwt.coop.
