August 6, 2010

 

Philippine feed output seen down 23%

 

 

Philippine feed millers have projected lower output of animal feeds for the rest of 2010, with production expected to decline by 23%.

 

According to sources from the Philippine Association of Feed Millers Inc., production could decline due to the lack of demand for livestock and poultry products. Hogs production not only did not pick up, but declined further due to a slack in the production of piglets.

 

Demand for animal feeds was also dragged down by lacklustre aquaculture production.

 

Earlier, feed millers had projected feeds production to contract by 10%, but the slower demand for animal feeds forced them to further cut production to minimise losses.

 

The weaker demand for animal feeds could also discourage feed millers to import more feed wheat despite projections of lower corn production for the rest of 2010. Feed wheat is an alternative material to yellow corn.

 

Earlier, corn farmers projected that their output for 2010 could reach 6.8 million tonnes, half a million tonnes lower than the 7.3-million-tonne target output for the year.

 

Feed millers usually import corn or feed wheat to plug the gap in local corn production. For 2010, corn imports are expected to reach not more than 80,099 tonnes, way below the 344,945 tonnes imported in 2009.

 

Imported corn was sourced mainly from Thailand and arrived in small batches from January to early May 2010. The commodity was contracted at US$250 per tonne. This translates to a landed cost of PHP13 per kilogramme, almost on a par with local corn that sells at PHP13.50, ex-farm.

 

Meanwhile, feed millers have contracted to import about 1 million tonnes of feed wheat, which are due for arrival until October. The private sector expects feed-wheat importation for the year to reach 1.5 million tonnes. Sources of imported feed wheat are the Ukraine, Romania and Brazil.

 

A report earlier revealed that animal-feed production in the Philippines declined by 26% to 5.5 million tonnes in 2009 owing to the sharp decline in hog and poultry production.