Brazil dairy imports remain high as cheese exports jump in August

Brazilian cheese exports rebounded sharply in August, but the increase was not enough to lift the country’s overall dairy shipments, while imports remained nearly 40% above year-earlier levels.

Cheese exports rose 39.54% from July, reaching the equivalent of 2.47 million liters of milk, according to Secex data analyzed by Cepea. Cheese accounted for 47% of Brazil’s total dairy export volume on a milk-equivalent basis in August. Compared with the same month in 2025, however, shipments were down 4.6%.

Total dairy exports slipped 0.41% month over month to the equivalent of 5.25 million liters of milk. Compared with August 2025, exports fell 1.67%.

Condensed milk accounted for another 26.1% of the August export total, at 1.37 million milk-equivalent liters, down 11.71% from July and 3% year over year.

The milk-equivalent measure standardizes different dairy products according to the quantity of raw milk required to produce them. It therefore should not be interpreted as the physical volume shipped.

Imports remain far above exports

Brazil dairy imports declined slightly from July but remained substantially higher than a year earlier.

Imports totaled 230.3 million milk-equivalent liters in August, down 2.54% month over month but up 39.48% from August 2025.

Milk powder remained by far the largest imported category, accounting for 72.3% of total dairy imports. Purchases rose 0.99% from July to 166.58 million milk-equivalent liters.

Cheese represented another 26.8% of imports, totaling 61.79 million milk-equivalent liters, down 16.09% from the previous month.

According to Datamar seaborne trade data, Brazil’s cheese imports rose 38.6% in the first seven months of the year compared with the same period a year earlier, reaching 920 TEUs. The chart below provides a monthly breakdown:

Cheese Imports | Jan 2023 – Jul 2026 | TEUs

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

The figures underline the scale of the imbalance in Brazil’s dairy trade. Even after the monthly increase in cheese exports, inbound dairy flows remained many times larger than outbound shipments.

Dairy trade deficit narrows slightly

Brazil’s dairy trade deficit improved marginally in August as imports eased from the previous month.

The deficit stood at 225.05 million milk-equivalent liters, down 2.6% from July. In value terms, the negative balance narrowed 2.7% to US$100.92 million.

Compared with August 2025, however, the volume deficit was 40.9% larger, reflecting the strong year-on-year increase in imports.

The August figures therefore point to two contrasting trends. Cheese exports gained considerable momentum from July, but total dairy exports remained slightly lower. Imports, meanwhile, continued at elevated levels, led overwhelmingly by milk powder and cheese.

For the logistics market, the most relevant signal is the persistence of strong inbound dairy trade. While milk-equivalent figures do not translate directly into cargo tonnage, the import growth indicates continued demand for international flows of milk powder and cheese, while Brazil’s dairy export base remains comparatively small.

Image generated with Artificial Intelligence.

Source: Cepea/Esalq-USP, based on Secex data

Sharing is caring!