Thai government urged to speed up import plan for soymeal

Thai feed producers are asking the government to speed up next year's import plan for soymeal, a main ingredient in animal feed, to give them more time to manage the supply, according to Thai media reports.

The current import permits expire by year-end, and it takes a few months for shipments to reach Thai ports.

Producers say this means they need the authorities to announce the import policy this month, or else they will consider filing complaints with the Administrative Court, said Pornsil Patcharintanakul, president of the Feedmeal Producers Association (FPA).

He called soymeal an essential raw material in the supply chain of the country's food, livestock and aquaculture industries, which together generates THB300 billion (US$10 billion) of import revenue annually.

However, this same sort of delay happens each year, and the Commerce Ministry has expressed its intention to speed up the process.

"Any further delay will mean added costs for producers. Importers must charter ocean-going ships at a cost of US$90,000 per day," Pornsil said.

Besides speeding up import plans, the government is also being urged to extend the import period from one year to three. The FPA also wants the import tariff on soymeal, now at 2%, to be removed in order to improve the Thai livestock industry's competitiveness against Malaysia and Indonesia.

Thailand's annual production of soymeal, at 300,000 tonnes, is insufficient, and at least two million tonnes more must be imported. The country imported 2.9 million tonnes in 2008, 2.07 million last year and 1.7 million in the first eight months of this year.

Thailand also imports 1.7-1.8 million tonnes of soy, mainly for the cooking oil industry.