07/07/08 Milk for oil

Washington Ag July 7, 2008 The U.S. Dairy Export Council, or USDEC, has been working in Middle Eastern markets for many years conducting seminars and researching target countries to grow U.S. dairy product and ingredient exports. USDEC's Nina Bakht, based in Beirut, Lebanon, says market conditions in the Middle East have changed. Bakht: "In 2007 a new development opened doors for dairy exports. Higher oil prices contributed to higher incomes among Middle Easterners. And this opened the door for high quality U.S. dairy ingredients and products. USDEC saw the increase in incomes as an opportunity to grow the pie of possible outlets for U.S. dairy production." Bakht says countries like Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and others are becoming stronger customers for U.S. whey proteins and lactose and USDEC is working to increase the understanding of high quality U.S. dairy ingredients and products. Bakht: "For instance, the Export Council invited several Middle Eastern bakery and confectionary manufacturers to the United States and provided demonstrations using U. S. dairy ingredients." Programs like that helped the value of U.S. whey protein exports to the Middle East to more than double, reaching nearly 14 million dollars in 2007. The U.S. Dairy Export Council's activities are supported by U.S. dairy producer check off dollars. I'm Bob Hoff.