December 19, 2012

Ukraine's feed output is expected to reach 6.7-6.9 million tonnes by the end of 2012, a rise of 7% on 2011.

In 2011, the country produced about 6.4 million tonnes of animal feed also taking into account the shadow market, the share of which is about 40% out of the total feed market in the country. Ukraine's feed production has risen consistently over the past five years.

More than 70% of the country's industrial feed production goes to large agricultural holdings. In particular, in 2011, the share to Myronivsky Hliboproduct (MHP) amounted to 25%, Avanguard - 7.9%, Agromars - 7.7%.

In January-October this year, Ukraine imported 79.1 thousand tonnes of feed at a total cost of US$147.7 million. The export of feed for the same period was less than eight tonnes. Ukraine, mostly imported feed additives, premixes and feed mixtures from Europe and China. At the same time, the country is exporting complete feed and feed on the basis of grain mixtures. Ukraine's main export markets in 2012 will remain the same: the Republic of Moldova, Belarus, Georgia and Turkey.

The price of animal feed in the Ukraine market, since the summer of this year, increased by 20-23%. According to experts, feed cost will continue to rise by at least 15% until the middle of spring 2013. These hikes will be mostly due to the rise in costs of feed ingredients, primarily corn and soy, which makes up 76% of the production costs. Over the past year, the price of feed components, such as coarse grains, increased by 19-30%, bran - by 59%, sunflower meal - more than twice.