Egidijus Simonis, head of the association, says almost 2.9 mln tons of milk was produced at Baltic farms, and 1.7 mln tons were processed by Lithuanian companies.
"Lithuanian processors, compared to 2018, maintained the same production volumes. It's worth noting that the share of milk that came from Lithuanian farms rose in the total processing amount, and the share of imported raw milk went down slightly," Simonis said in a statement.
In his words, over 95% of Lithuanian milk was processed in Lithuania, and the rest was exported.
"Despite the fact that almost all raw milk purchased in the country is processed here, due to the well-developed industry and active product exports, much more milk is processed in Lithuania then is produced by the country's farms. Our production facilities feel a constant deficit of local milk, therefore, raw milk is imported from Latvia and Estonia," Simonis said.
Last year, the purchase price for natural milk for major suppliers was the highest in Lithuania, compared to the average milk import and export prices. Therefore, more of Lithuanian raw milk stayed within the market.
In 2019, the average annual price for imported milk for major suppliers stood at 313.5 euros per ton in Lithuania, compared to 325.7 euros per tons on average paid to Lithuania's major suppliers. The average price of exported Lithuanian milk stood at 323.7 euros per ton.
