Dairy prices have largely been affected by decreased demand after reaching a peak last year, Thursday's "Aktuaalne kaamera" reported.

"We have reached a level with raw milk prices in Estonia, the Baltics and Europe where demand has started to fall. This means that the consumer was no longer buying, stocks started to pile up, which led to slight price correction last year," said Maido Solovjov, managing director of dairy company Valio Eesti.

Viraito, a private company in Jõgeva County, produces 15 tons of milk per day on average. Lower purchase prices make operations difficult.

"The purchase price of milk is on a downward trend. The price is expected to fall to €400 per tonne. There is no buying power. According to statistics, purchasing power on the Estonian domestic market has fallen by 20 percent and it is getting difficult," said Viraito board member Riho Kens.

The has not yet been a knock-on effect on the price of dairy products in supermarkets.

"Certainly for the consumer, we will see that in the second or third quarter, prices are still correcting somewhat in the domestic market. For us as a dairy industry, it is important to find that balance where the consumer consumes, the retail chain earns, the dairy industry thrives and the dairy producer also thrives. At the moment, this process of finding this balance is still ongoing," Solovjov said.

Supermarket prices will likely fall after the world market rate stabilizes. April has been suggested by experts.

Prisma's Kaimo Niitaru said: "We are also looking forward to what future prices will be. We're not going to see prices quite like they were a few years ago. But there's room for maneuver, I think, in the order of several tens of percent."

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