Nonetheless, the growth rate will be lower by 9.1 percentage points and 8.4 percentage points respectively compared with 2007 and 2008.

 

Wang Zongli, the deputy director of the Animal Husbandry Department, reported that China's feed production managed to maintain its growth in 2009 but was the lowest recorded since 2001.

 

Compared with the 11.5% growth in 2007 and 10.8% in 2008, the 2.4% increase in feed output this year is very much lower.

 

Wang made his report "Opportunities and Trends of China's Animals Breeding and Feed Industry" at the summit, which was held by Chinese Society of Forestry, Animal Husbandry and Fishery Economy on Dec 12 at Jiuhua Spa and Resort (Beijing).

 

Breaking the output by feed type, the production volume of compound feed is projected to be 106.96 million tonnes, which accounts for 76.4% of the total feed production. The production of feed concentrate and premixes are estimated at 27.08 million tonnes and 5.95 million tonnes respectively, making up 19.3% and 4.3% of China's feed output.

 

The production of hog feed is estimated at 51.03 million tonnes, higher by 11.5% on-year and staying above the 10% mark for the second year.

 

On the other hand, layer feed production is expected to shrink 8% on-year to 24.33 million tonnes while broiler feed output will edge down 0.90% to 41.73 million tonnes. Both ruminant and aqua feed output should be higher by more than 10% each.

 

Wang's report also pointed to the fact that large-scale feedmills were still the driving force that brings forth the production growth. In 2008, there were 37 feed producers with annual output of 300,000 tonnes or above. The aggregate output of these industry heavy weights added up to 57.16 million tonnes, which was 41.8% of national production.

 

Expanding on its high production volume, Liuhe Group's feed output is forecasted to be 14.2% more than in the previous year, reaching some 9 million tonnes. Zhengbang Group, Shaanxi Shiyang (Group) Co., Ltd., Guigang Ruikang Feed Co., Ltd. and other feedmills' production are seen to rise by 20%.

 

Meanwhile, the production of the medium- and small-scale feedmills declined in 2009. A survey conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture, which involved 116 medium- and small-scale industry players shows that their production fell by 8.3% on average.  

 

With respect to industry standards, the quality of feed and livestock products improved slightly. Among the 6,937 batches of feed samples examined on random, about 91% met national standards, higher by 2.3 percentage points compared to a year ago. Nevertheless, the problem of Clenbuterol contamination in the swine industry showed signs of worsening and was spotted in the beef cattle industry.  In some instances, significant traces of copper and zinc were found in the feed samples. Overall, the safety aspect of feed and livestock products remains poor.

 

Other than the Ministry of Agriculture, organisations including Meticulous Management Research Centre of Peking University, Cargill Investment (China) Ltd and Morgan Stanley presented papers discussing the outlook of the feed and livestock industry in relation to the global economy and China's economic performance.

 

The conference has attracted decision makers of Chia Tai Group, Tongwei Group, Zhengbang Group, Ningbo Tech-Bank Co. Ltd., Spain-based Lucta and several major players in the industry.