Sustainability, Vol. 12, Pages 1542: Dynamic Analysis of China`s Imported Raw Milk Powder Consumption (Sustainability)

Raw milk powder is one of most important raw materials for dairy processing and manufacturing. In the past decade, the rapid growth of imported raw milk powder (IMP) consumption has brought about significant impacts on China’s social economy. For more in-depth analysis of such impacts, this study develops a comprehensive IMP consumption model for China covering 2007–2015 based on the input-output analysis method from the perspective of material metabolism. In detail, material flows and consumption analysis are employed to reveal the direct and indirect IMP consumption and supply of various sectors. Using an innovative hierarchy analysis and network utility analysis, the internal structure of the IMP consumption system and consumption relationships between different sectors are identified. Due to the increasing intensive production activities between the manufacture and processing of the dairy products sector and others, its downstream sectors have grown rapidly and the consumption relationships with others are mostly mutualism. The surge in IMP has caused dramatic changes in consumption relationships, which has the greatest impact on the service sectors, followed by manufacturing sectors. The rapid increase in IMP consumption has put great pressure on the supply and consumption of intermediate products of many sectors.