New Zealand’s Fonterra reports 1.4 percent drop in exports to China

 According to Reuters, the dairy exporter had warned in February that COVID-19 “will potentially impact” shipments to China from January 2020.

Fonterra Chairman John Monaghan also said earlier this month that while China was slowly returning to normal, full recovery was still some way off.

China makes up most of Fonterra's market, as buyers in the mainland prefer internationally made whole milk powder and infant formula, over their local counterparts.

The company did not disclose a total global exports figure for January-February.

Meanwhile Fonterra said milk production in its domestic market dropped 1.9 percent in March from the same month a year earlier, mainly due to persistent drought conditions across New Zealand.

Fonterra said its Australia milk production jumped 8.1 percent in February, citing favourable rainfall in many regions, while it also said milk production was improving in Europe despite uncertainties in global demand and supply chain disruptions.

Read more about this story here.