Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) has accepted 7 requests for export assistance on contracts to sell 921,532 pounds (418 metric tons) of Cheddar, and Gouda cheese and 7.322 million pounds (3,321 metric tons) of whole milk powder to customers in Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. The product has been contracted for delivery in the period from April through October 2015.

Year-to-date, CWT has assisted member cooperatives who have contracts to sell 25.763 million pounds of cheese, 24.387 million pounds of butter and 7.232 million pounds of whole milk powder to twenty-six countries on five continents. The amounts of and butter in these sales contracts represent the equivalent of 839.962 million pounds of milk on a milkfat basis.

Assisting CWT members through the Export Assistance program, in the long-term, helps member cooperatives gain and maintain market share, thus expanding the demand for U.S. dairy products and the U.S. farm milk that produces them. This, in turn, positively impacts U.S. dairy farmers by strengthening and maintaining the value of dairy products that directly impact their milk price.

The amounts of cheese and related milk volumes reflect current contracts for delivery, not completed export volumes. CWT will pay export assistance to the bidders only when export and delivery of the product is verified by the submission of the required documentation.