Baltic Dairy Board says losses due to new factory production

By Jim Cornall

- Last updated on GMT

Baltic Dairy Board plans to establish a drying facility in 2018.
Baltic Dairy Board plans to establish a drying facility in 2018.

Related tags Milk

LTD Baltic Dairy Board, based in Latvia, has issued its financial results for the year ending December 31, 2016.

The figures show a net turnover of €18.6m ($20.3m), a 105% increase on 2015. However, while gross profit was €1m ($1.09m), there was a net loss after tax of €373,000 ($407,000).

The company attributed this to the first four months of production at the company’s new added-value product factory in Bauska, Latvia.

The factory is one of the largest milk protein and whey protein facilities in northern Europe, with approximately 8,000MT of protein powder produced every year.

Baltic Dairy Board said starting milk processing in the Latvian market as a new market player required the purchase of additional ingredients at the early stage, and the company had to pay a higher price for milk than other processors paid on average.

The company added the lower processing capacity is, the higher expenses for each processed ton are. It said every month, with the amount of milk increasing, the expenses for each processed ton have decreased significantly.

Drying facility goal

The family-owned company, which was founded in 2008, said its main goal is to establish its own drying facility by 2018, with the capability to dry its own liquids and offer drying services to other dairy companies.

Products currently made by the company include skimmed milk, pasteurized cream, milk protein concentrate (MPC), milk permeate and skimmed milk concentrate.