Cartoon row savages Denmark's dairy exports

COPENHAGEN - A boycott of Danish goods by millions of Muslims has caused an 85 per cent drop in Denmark's dairy exports in the wake of the Prophet Mohammad cartoon row.

The National Statistics Office says exports of dairy products such as milk, butter and cheese dropped to about 130 million crowns ($34.67 million) in February from 840 million in the same month last year.

"The numbers makes it possible to evaluate the consequences of the boycott from Muslim nations on Danish goods for the first time," said Nykredit Markets senior economist Jakob Jakobsen. He estimated the refusal to buy Danish products would cost at least 1.5 billion crowns in dairy exports, or about 10 per cent of estimated total sales, this year.

Diplomatic relations soured between Denmark and several Muslim countries after the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published 12 cartoons about the Prophet, including one in which the founder of Islam was portrayed with a turban shaped like a bomb.

More than 50 people were killed this year in protests in Asia, Africa and the Middle East and many consumers in Muslim countries responded to calls to boycott Danish goods. One of the companies hardest hit, Danish-Swedish dairy co-operative Arla, has said its business in Saudi Arabia, one of its largest markets, has dropped almost 80 per cent since the beginning of February.

While the consequences are serious for Arla and for several smaller dairies, Jakobsen said the impact of the protests was too small to affect the overall Danish economy, which had exports of more than 40 billion crowns in February.

- REUTERS