Where the Armenian Cheese Disappeared

Hardly Prime Minister had spoken about Armenian cheese program’s existence and great prospects for exports of cheese on the cheese market, when food prices increased immediately. Now the situation seems somewhat stabilized, there is even a small cheese prices decline. On average, in October we can record about 20 percent of cheese rise. Moreover, in some stores you can meet such a rare phenomenon, as the total absence of cheese, or the proposed range is very limited nature. It is not about supermarkets, but we can speak not only about prices but even the existence of deficit.

National statistics prove the cheese production 2.5% decline this year, within 8 months. This is a decline in the index that can lead to a market deficit. For example, milk production decreased by 5.2 percent, and the curd – 4.1 percent, but in the market neither milk, no curd deficit exists. Most likely, that, indeed, growth took place in export, but the statistical data about it are not published yet.

Note that Armenia annually produces about 17.5 thousand tons of cheese, which fully satisfies domestic demand.

Production volumes of storage in this case Armenia cheese does not have export potential, it can be realized only in the domestic market, reducing supply expense. Therefore, the prime minister mentioned “the Armenian cheese project feasible only due to the growth of cheese production, but statistics on the contrary, points out the cheese production decline. a small amount of cheese we always export, it was about 300-400 tons annually, the same number we import, but these volumes do not have industrial importance, such commodity is carried out exclusively for the range of variety of stores. Only if when Armenia begins annual 1000 tons of cheese to export more, it can seriously talk about the successes of the export sector. This is of course the international cheese market will not create a revolution, only to Switzerland annually about 100 thousand tons of cheese exports.

According to the explanation presented by the Armenian cheese makers cheese recently increased the procurement price of milk due to increasing previously had milk harvesting 105 AMD per 1 liter currently, 145 currency of the role of this factor, of course, cannot be ignored, but in this case remains unclear, or why the same time, not the other dairy too expensive, that is, logically, the milk must rise to all types of dairy speculate, but in this sense there are no significant changes, have increased by only cheese. Therefore, the real cheese market assessments of the processes are still ahead.