Turkey collects over 7.5M tons of cow milk in 9 months

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkey collected over 7.5 million tons of cow milk in the first nine months of 2020, the country's statistical authority announced on Wednesday.

Cow milk production increased by 4% year-on-year in the nine-month period, TurkStat said in a statement.

In January-September, 1.2 million tons of drinking milk was produced, up 12.1% on an annual basis.

Data also showed that cheese production from cow’s milk was up 10.3% on an annual basis to 554,612 tons.

Cheese production from sheep, goat, buffalo and mixed milk was 25,228 tons dropped by 7.1% in the period year on year.

Turkey also produced 843,535 tons of yogurt, 442,500 tons of ayran -- salty yogurt drink -- 85,095 tons of milk powder, 59,774 tons of butter, and 31,127 tons of cream from January to September.

In September, Turkey collected 772,552 tons of cow milk, up 5.7% on a yearly basis.

- Dairy exports total $276M

During the first nine months of 2020, Turkey exported dairy products worth $276 million, down 13.45% on an annual basis, according to the National Milk Council data.

Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were the top destinations for Turkish dairy products exporters in the same period.

Last year, over 9.5 million tons of cow milk was produced in Turkey, with 1.47 million tons of drinking milk production.