FEED Business Worldwide - June 2012

 

2012 China Feed Industry Expo 

 

by Geraldine EE

 

 

Jointly organised by the China Feed Industry Association and the National Animal Husbandry Service, the China Feed Industry Expo was staged in the southern Chinese province of Fujian. Held at Xiamen, Fujian's Xiamen International Conference and Exhibition Centre, vice minister of agriculture and China Feed Industry Association president Gao Hongbin opened this year's event, stating that,” this is a critical year for the development of the country's livestock feed industry.”

 

Emphasising the importance of safe, quality products, he urged the industry to "enforce safety precautions, change the industry's development and improve quality of growth, so as to allow the sector to develop and reach new heights. Gao added that, with China's increasing emphasis on feed safety, feed material shortages, alternative feed materials and environmental protection, the industry needs to continually reinvent itself, thereby presenting feed sector stakeholders with a horizon of new challenges.

 

Over 1,526 booths occupied an exhibition area of more than 30,000 square meters.He6 China feed industry information network-based feed, animal husbandry services The expo was divided into five sections: large-scale enterprises, feed additives, feed machinery, pet food, provincial pavilion and media village. Large-scale feed enterprises including China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation (COFCO), Da Bei Nong Group, Tong Wei Co Ltd, Guangdong Haid Group Co Ltd and Dachan Great Wall Group were some of the larger exhibitors.

 

And if anything, the feed additive companies participating in this year's event reflected the sector's evolving priorities: A large number of both foreign and Chinese exhibitors were probiotic suppliers, and trace element producers, with many introducing new, environmentally sustainable products meant to be substituted in place of antibiotics. Through technical seminars, companies such as Intech Bio-Chem, Angel Yeast, Mingbo Medical Technology and Shandong Boly-Lely Bioengineering were also able to engage expo visitors in discussions about probiotics.

 

According to latest developments, appropriate use of probiotics is an effective way to control livestock intestinal tract health. With the feed industry becoming increasingly advanced, the concepts of safe application and the effectiveness of feed formulas gear the industry towards providing more comprehensive solutions for the end user.

 

A series of seminars also addressed other animal health issues which have caught the attention of the industry, most notably China's alarming increase in the incidence of livestock disease outbreaks. Topics included new discoveries in avian immunity research, application of probiotics for post-antibiotics era, the distribution and effect of micro-ecology strains in the intestinal tract of animals, anti-infection micro-ecology and antibiotic replacement strategy.

 

Organic trace elements products were also prominently featured in this year's expo. While a number of large-scale feed mills in China have tried to import organic minerals, market penetration is slow due to their cost, resistance to product standardisation and technical challenges. Well-known local producers of organic trace elements and trace mineral chelate such as Changsha Xing Jia Bio-engineering Co Ltd, Alltech Biotechnology, Zinpro and Shanghai DeBon participated in the expo to promote their products.

 

In the past, feed businesses commonly used inorganic trace elements in livestock feed. Effectiveness of inorganic salts was low and large quantities must be applied to ensure absorption. This resulted in considerable heavy metal contamination arising from livestock waste. Seminars gave technical details on the problems with traditional inorganic supplements while many exhibitors offered organic substitutes, which offer the prospect of higher livestock productivity with a smaller ecological footprint.

 

Reflecting the industry's prioritisation of ecological and food safety, exhibitors showcasing natural feed additives outnumbered large-scale feed companies. Feed additive companies with large displays at this year's exhibit included include Chongqing Unis Chemical Co Ltd, Global Biochem Technology Group, DSM, Adisseo, Nutreco, Chuan Heng Corp, Zhengjiang NHU Co Ltd and Zhejiang Medicine Co Ltd.

 

"According to Zhao Bingyang, Nutreco's trade manager and regional manager for Southern China, "Nutreco's objectives in participating in the expo are to increase interaction with our partners and customers and to communicate our new management plan, to promote new products and also to stay abreast of the developments of competitors.”

 

Zhao added that 2012 is a critical year for China's livestock feed industry, as the rising costs of piglets and feed materials are forcing small-and-medium-scale hog farms out of business. This in turn badly affects smaller scale feed mills that supply this farm size demographic. In some regions, the close-down rates of hog farms are as high as 30%.

 

The China Feed Industry Expo's increasing international interest was also evident from the attendees it drew. Attendees came from more than 20 countries, including the United States, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Australia, Canada, Japan, Thailand, Sweden, Denmark, Israel, Austria, India, Korea, Britain, Switzerland, Italy, and Spain.

 

In all, 35 foreign companies had exhibition booths, alongside almost 340 local enterprises.

 

With strong local support and growing international interest, the China Feed Industry Expo has gained the status as one of the biggest and most influential shows in the nation's feed industry.