中国乳制品月报(乳制品中国新闻202509)

Welcome to the September issue of China Dairy News

The global dairy sector is entering a new phase characterized by flat volume growth and structural divergence. Weak end-demand and high inventories in Western markets were reflected in September's GDT price decline, with euro-area food retail sales up only 0.8% MoM and baseline dairy purchases down 4.2% YoY. Major exporters are shifting toward value-added products—Fonterra is increasing its premium cheese share to 27%, while Dairy Australia launched an Organic Whey Protein Certification. Competition is moving from scale to value. Meanwhile, adjusted China–U.S. trade flows have increased volatility in U.S. whey prices, raising input costs for some European brands by 12%–15%.

In China, the steady policy tone from Q3 continued into September. The one-year and five-year LPRs remained unchanged at 3.0% and 3.5%, respectively, supporting stable funding for dairy sector R&D and expansion. High-tech manufacturing's share of large-scale industrial output reached 16.4% in H1 2025, strengthening the foundation for automation and process upgrades.

September became China's "quality-revolution month." From 16 September, the first amendment to the National Food Safety Standard for Sterilized Milk has taken effect: the product may now contain only raw cow or goat milk, effectively banning reconstituted milk. Digitisation shifted up another gear: Milkground kicked off the world's first cheese RDA data-asset project, planting a new flag for dairy's digital transformation.