Milk Goes Up 5p in EU Crisis

THE price of milk is to soar by up to 5p a pint within the next couple of months, and butter and cheese will also cost more.

The surge is being caused by a drop in EU stocks of dairy products as demand rises across the world, particularly in Asia, trade magazine The Grocer warned yesterday.

In the UK, where a pint is presently around 35p, milk powder is already pounds 2,300 a tonne compared with pounds 1,500 a year ago and butter is pounds 1,900 a tonne, up from pounds 1,700.

Industry group Dairy UK said its milk-related bill was pounds 415million, or 10 per cent, up on May 2006 – and rising. Boss Jim Begg said: “World demand is increasing faster than supply.”

The dairy products market has also been hit by an increase in prices paid to farmers after years of complaints.

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