Higher imports widen Brazil’s dairy trade deficit in February despite export gains

Brazilian dairy exports rose in February, but stronger import volumes kept pressure on the sector’s trade balance and widened the monthly deficit, according to Foreign Trade Secretariat data analyzed by Cepea.

Shipments totaled 5.04 million liters in milk equivalent, up 17.32% from January. Imports, meanwhile, reached 182.03 million liters in milk equivalent, an increase of 1.96% over the same comparison.

As a result, Brazil’s dairy trade deficit reached 177 million liters in milk equivalent in February, a volume 1.6% higher than in the previous month. In value terms, the negative balance stood at $72.18 million, up 0.7%.

Compared with February 2025, however, both exports and imports declined. Shipments fell 18.13%, while foreign purchases dropped 15.81%. The trade deficit in volume also narrowed 22% year on year.

On the import side, milk powder remained Brazil’s main dairy import, accounting for 79.7% of the total imported in February. Purchases of the product rose 7.57% from January to 145.11 million liters in milk equivalent. The average price fell 2.4% in the period to $3.21 per kilogram.

Datamar’s container throughput data show that Brazil imported 620 TEUs of powdered milk, across all product categories, in January 2026. The chart below shows Brazil’s monthly powdered milk import volumes:

Powdered Milk Imports | Jan. 2023 – Jan. 2026 | TEUs

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

Cheese imports, which accounted for 19.4% of the total, dropped 16.83% from the previous month. Even so, the average price rose 21.6% to $8.29 per kilogram. Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay remained the main dairy suppliers to the Brazilian market.

On the export side, cheese and condensed milk accounted for the largest share of February shipments, with shares of 39.8% and 17.2%, respectively. Condensed milk exports fell 30.73% from January to 868,360 liters in milk equivalent.

Cheese shipments, by contrast, rose 28.88% over the same comparison, reaching 2.01 million liters in milk equivalent.

Source: Center for Advanced Studies on Applied Economics, Cepea (Esalq-USP)

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