Global animal feed additives demand set to grow

 

 

The global demands for medicated and non-medicated applications for livestock feed and focus of market participants on innovative feed additives is set to increase.

 

Animal feed additives have long profited from the rising global demand for responsible and healthy food and the growing emphasis on animal nutrition and health. Feed additives market has always been influenced by growing demand for meat products, which represents a key end-use segment animal feed additive. Consumption of meat across the globe has increased substantially over the years, thereby transforming feed additives into lucrative business product. Animal feed additives have grown in popularity based on its vast medicated as well as non-medicated applications for poultry, pig, aquaculture, companion animals, and ruminant feed.

 

Cherished for its ability to foster the growth of healthy and profitable animal nutrition, animal feed additives lately has ignited interests of the medical community, given its potential to deliver sustainable production of healthy and delicious meat. However, the prolonged period of recent economic recession has slowed down the pace of growth in the global demand for agricultural crop serving feed, food, and fuel. Spending on animal health products (such as biologics, pharmaceuticals and feed additives) to prevent and treat diseases in farm and companion animals also decreased considerably in 2008.

 

Due to rising inflation and contracting disposable income, the consumer-spending pattern is fast shifting towards less-expensive meat products, which is severely squeezing the global revenues.

 

Despite this damper cast by the recession, the medium to long-term outlook for animal feed industry still remains encouraging, with growth fundamentals such as population, per capita meat consumption, and consumption in developing nations, expected to display resurgence in the upcoming years and drive growth in the post recession period.

 

Increasingly health-conscious consumers, continued breakthroughs, especially in research and clinical applications areas, and expanding commercial applications will ensure sustained growth in the global animal feed additives market over the next few years. Extending the required impetus to market growth are recent advances in finding more scientific formulations, new molecules, and use of biotechnology, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and natural/herbal products to enhance animal productivity.

 

Developments in feed manufacturing technology and new feeding concepts also unraveled possibilities to manufacture a range of novel feed additives. Since the ban on antibiotics, livestock producers have been seeking ways to promote animal production and deliver similar benefits offered by antibiotic growth promoters, thus translating into a strong business case for alternative feed additives.

 

According to reports, the US, Europe, and Asia-Pacific markets have been the traditional contributors to the overall market, having accounted for a combined share of 73.5% of the total revenue generated in 2009. The US represents the largest market worldwide followed by Europe, and Asia-Pacific. Latin America, although a small market, displays the fastest CAGR over the analysis period 2007-2015.

 

While the animal feed antibiotics/antibacterials market is the largest product segment, having contributed a share of about 27.89% in the total market revenue generated for the year 2009, the animal feed amino acids market is the fastest growing product segment displaying a CAGR of 5.21% over the analysis period 2007-15.