April 3 - Two Chinese dairy companies hit by the melamine-tainted milk incidents last year have claimed their businesses and the domestic dairy industry are showing signs of recovery with sales approaching pre-scandal levels.
The Yili Group said yesterday its sales had recovered to 90% of levels prior to the widespread contamination last year, while Mengniu Dairy said it has seen a full recovery of sales in the north of China and a 60%-recovery in the south.
However, both firms declined to provide detailed sales or production figures and admitted they expected to post a loss for 2008.
Their poor performance was echoed throughout the beleaguered sector in 2008. Shanghai-based Bright Dairy Tuesday posted an annual net loss of 285.99 million Yuan (US$ 41.87 million U.S. compared with earnings of 212.88 million Yuan in 2007.
Chinese dairy analyst Chen Lianfang, of Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultant, Ltd., said overall dairy product sales had recovered to 70-75 percent of pre-scandal levels.
Wang Dingmian, of the Dairy Association of China, said he expected dairy sales to recover by up to 90 percent by the end of 2009.
Last year, melamine-contaminated milk powder left at least six Chinese infants dead and almost 300,000 with kidney illnesses. The chemical was added to dairy products to increase their apparent protein content.