Butter, which only last year made up the bulk of the industry’s export earnings, has lost more than half of its weight in Ukraine’s dairy exports over twelve months.

In August 2025, product line 0405 (butter and other milk fats) accounted for 36% of the value of dairy exports. In August 2026 — just 15%. 

The lead was taken by dried and condensed milk (HS 0402), whose share rose from 24% to 37%, while whey (HS 0404) more than doubled, from 5% to 11%.

Interim snapshots show this is not a one-off spike: butter’s share fell steadily — 36% in August 2025, 25% in October, 22% in March 2026 and 15% in August — while dried milk rose in mirror image (24%, 24%, 35%, 37%), with the turning point between October and March.

What lies behind the figures

Part of this reflects external conditions rather than exporters’ behaviour: the global milk-fat market was under pressure throughout, with the Global Dairy Trade (GDT) index falling for nine auctions in a row to December 2025 — its lowest since December 2023 — and butter and anhydrous milk fat again dragging trading down in April 2026. Since the bulletin shows value, not volume, structure, the fall in butter’s share is partly a revaluation effect rather than a loss of physical volumes. 

Whey’s rise, however, is not explained by this — and it is the most telling: a by-product of cheesemaking is becoming a standalone export line, its share rising monotonically over the year with no pullback.

The key question for the industry

Together, two commodity lines — dried milk and whey — now make up 48% of export value: almost half of foreign-currency earnings tied to exchange-traded goods with minimal added value and high price volatility. By contrast, cheese of all kinds — the only category with a brand, recognition and margin — has not moved in a year: 24% then, 25% now. 

That is the key question for the industry. The export structure is drifting toward commodities, while the segment capable of a stable price premium has stood still for a year. Growth is there — the question is whether it is the growth we want.

Source: Union of Dairy Enterprises of Ukraine (UDEU analytics)