According to the 2018 Alltech Global Feed Survey, released today, international feed tonnage has exceeded 1 billion metric tons for the second consecutive year, with a total of 1.07 billion metric tons of feed produced in 2017. The growth seen in 2017 was strong at 2.57 percent over last year and the feed industry, valued at $430 billion, has seen 13 percent growth over the past five years, equating to an average of 2.49 percent per annum.
Overall aquaculture feeds showed a slight increase in 2017, particularly in the European and Asia-Pacific regions. China reported a decline of 5 percent this year and in 2016, which could be linked to government controls on feeding practices and food safety, such as the administration of antibiotics. Brazil, Chile and Peru led the increase in production in Latin America, as did Iran in the Middle East. Carp leads the production of aquaculture feed, followed by shrimp/prawn and tilapia. Catfish, salmon and trout also ranked on the species feed indicator, though to lesser degrees.
The seventh edition of the annual survey is the most comprehensive ever, now covering 144 countries and more than 30,000 feed mills. The results show that China and the U.S. remain the top two countries, producing one-third of all animal feed.
“Now in its seventh year of analysis, the Alltech Global Feed Survey continues to serve as a valuable report on the state of the global feed industry,” said Aidan Connolly, chief innovation officer and vice president of corporate accounts at Alltech. “In addition to its insights into the feed industry, it serves as a barometer for agriculture as a whole and oftentimes demonstrates the economic strength of the countries included in the survey.”
The Alltech Global Feed Survey assesses compound feed production and prices through information collected by Alltech’s global sales team and in partnership with local feed associations in the last quarter of 2017. It is intended to serve as an information resource for policymakers, decision-makers and industry stakeholders.
The top seven feed-producing countries in 2017, in order of production output importance, were China, the U.S., Brazil, Russia, Mexico, India and Spain. These countries contain approximately 54 percent of the world’s feed mills and account for 53 percent of total production. These countries can be viewed as an indicator of the trends in agriculture.
The Asia-Pacific region accounts for more than 35 percent of the world’s feed tonnage and seventy percent of global aqua feed production. China remained the top feed-producing country in the world with 186.86 million metric tons, a slight decline in overall feed production compared to last year. Increased production for Asia-Pacific came from India with 7 percent and Thailand with 8 percent growth. Vietnam grew 4 percent over the past year and is the second-highest producer of aqua and pig feed in the Asia-Pacific region.
The U.S. remains the second-largest feed-producing country globally, behind China. Feed prices in North America are lower than when compared to other regions.
Brazil remained the leader in feed production for the Latin America region and third overall globally. Brazil, Mexico and Argentina account for almost 75 percent of regional feed production. Latin America as a region has had the third-highest growth rate over five years, seen primarily in aqua, horses and pets.
Tied with Asia-Pacific for the fastest-growing regions, Europe saw a 3 percent feed tonnage growth, resulting from increases in aqua, pig, and boiler production. The region was led by Russia with 37.6 million tons produced in 2017, moving up in the country rankings from number seven to number four.
Aquaculture feed production in Africa decreased in 2017. While many African nations showed a small increase in aquaculture feed production, the region as a whole was down primarily because of lower reported feed production in Egypt, which has now been surpassed by Nigeria.
“The Alltech Global Feed Survey provides valuable data and insights on the health of the feed industry and agriculture as a whole,” said Connolly. “As such, we will continue to offer the findings of the feed survey freely in an effort to demonstrate the significance of the animal feed industry in feeding a growing global population, sustainably and affordably.”
Click here to discover more data from the 2018 Alltech Global Feed Survey, including the results booklet, an interactive global map and a presentation of the results.
