The latest data from Vietnam’s Department of Livestock Production showed that in 2022, the domestic breeding sow herd reached 3.03 million, an 8% increase from 2021. While the commercial pig sector contributes 37.2% of the total sow herd in the country, it accounts for 47% of the total number of pigs sold in 2022 thanks to higher productivity. In response to the substantial growth in breeding herds and piglet production by large corporations, alongside fluctuating piglet prices, many farms have chosen to produce their own piglets. The practice of raising sows and producing piglets from birth to finishing stages (farrowing-finishing model) is gaining popularity among independent farms, especially after the outbreak of African swine fever.

The importance of corn in Philippine swine farming cannot be overstated. A document by the Department of Agriculture (DA) in the Philippines' Cagayan Valley Region shows that yellow corn constitutes most of feed ingredients in a local pig's food - at an amount of 4.6 kg of the daily feed allowance for five pigs weighing 60-65 kg to a market weight range of 90-100 kg. With the Philippines' corn production hammered by El Nino and armyworm infestations in recent times, the country's corn import is set to rise this year - according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) - reaching a volume of 1.3 million metric tons.

As the poultry industry in Indonesia grapples with soaring feed costs and sustainability challenges, researchers and farmers are increasingly turning to alternative feed ingredients. Those innovations not only promise to reduce expenses but can also enhance the nutritional value of poultry diets. With feed costs accounting for up to 70% of poultry production expenses, the search for viable substitutes has become critical.

Following a downtrend in pork consumption in the Philippines since August, this has recently improved as consumers' fear of African swine fever abated, according to the country's Department of Agriculture. Furthermore, as the December holiday season nears, demand for pork is anticipated to pick up. The development may then continue a positive trend into 2025, for which the US Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA-FAS) post in Manila foresees pork consumption at 1.58 million metric tons (MMT) carcass-weight equivalent (CWE). The volume represents a 2% increase from 2024. https://www.efeedlink.com/contents/11-13-2024/f5fbffd7-4fbe-45d7-b0fb-562fa94814a9-0002.html

India's pig population is just above nine million, according to the 2019 Indian Livestock Census. The country's contribution to the total pig production in Asia is about 1% (China, on the other hand, contributes more than 80%). For the past 15 years, the growth rate of the pig population in India has been on a downtrend.

In the first half of 2024, China's overall ruminant feed production was 69.43 million tonnes, a 7.98% drop from the same period of 2023. The production of ruminant feeds has been low since February. In past years, ruminant feed production had been stable or started to increase in the May-June period. But, this year, it shrank from the February-April period, a crucial factor resulting in the sharp decline in production in H1 2024.

In 2023, China's total raw milk output reached 41.97 million tonnes, a year-on-year increase of 6.7% compared to 2022. Chinese raw milk output expanded continuously during the 2018-2023 period. Meanwhile, the production of dairy products last year was 30.55 million tonnes, a year-on-year increase of 3.1% compared to 2022. But, the growth rate of dairy product output was lower than that of raw milk, signalling weak demand for dairy products.

As of August 7, 2024, the average wholesale price of beef in China was ¥59.25/kg (US$8.31), down 16.64% from ¥71.08/kg on January 7. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics of China, the price of beef (boneless whole meat) in the distribution market was ¥84.90/kg in early March 2023 and fell below ¥80/kg at the end of 2023. As of June this year, it plummeted to ¥67.13/kg (US$9.42). Data from Chinabric.com show that in the 23rd week of 2024, the average price of live beef cattle in Shandong Province was ¥22.74/kg (prices were as low as ¥18/kg in some regions. As beef cattle farming has a break-even range of ¥24-28/kg (US$3.37-3.93), the price of beef cattle in most parts of the province continues to fall below the break-even line.

As the world's largest producer of milk, India's dairy sector is crucial for the livelihoods of millions of farmers and the nutritional needs of its population. However, the sector also contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. In the dairy sector, enteric fermentation is identified as the primary source of emissions, accounting for roughly 70% of the total greenhouse gases (GHGs) from cradle to farm-gate. Contributions from manure management, feed production, and on-farm energy uses are also significant, representing approximately 15%, 10%, and 5% of emissions, respectively.

Fierce competition in China's aquafeed sector led to the number of Chinese aquafeed manufacturers falling from more than 1,600 in the first half of 2023 to 1,480 in H1 2024. The total number of aquafeed factories under the ownership of 80 producers with an annual feed output of more than 200,000 tonnes decreased from more than 530 to 450. However, the combined production volume of the top 10 producers, which account for 55% of the Chinese market, was 4,929,000 tonnes, an increase of 2% from H1 2023.

In the first half of 2024, China's total aquafeed output was 9.28 million tonnes, dipping 4.95% from H1 2023. Freshwater aquafeed, which accounted for about 85% of total output, decreased by 5.61% in H1 2024 to 7.91 million tonnes - within the segment of freshwater aquafeed, freshwater fish feed accounted for 80-85% of output. The output of freshwater fish feed in H1 2024 was 6.03 million tonnes, a year-on-year drop of 6.27% from H1 2023.

The main models of white shrimp farming in China include earthen pond farming and industrial farming. Industrial farming produces only about 50,000-100,000 tonnes of Chinese white shrimp output (earthen pond farming is currently the leading farming method in China). The most advanced industrial farming model remains unaffordable for most small and medium-sized farm owners due to high initial investment costs. Nevertheless, industrial shrimp farming expanded rapidly from 2014 to 2023, gradually changing the shrimp farming landscape in the country.

India's shrimp farming, particularly of those focused on Litopenaeus vannamei and Penaeus monodon, continued to maintain its place in the Indian market. In the early months of the first quarter, while stockings were at lower levels, nearly 70% of ponds were later stocked by the end of the quarter. The average export value per kilogramme of raw L. vannamei has shown a positive trend in Q1 but is still considerably below 2023. At the end of Q2, the farmgate price of shrimp fetched better prices.

China's egg production hit a record high last year, exceeding 30 million tonnes with a year-on-year increase of 3.1% — and higher by 2.7% compared with a historical high in 2020. Meanwhile, egg production in the first quarter of this year increased by 1.5% year-on-year. While the Chinese egg supply was abundant, domestic consumption declined below expectations. With excessive supply overwhelming demand, egg prices tumbled, causing losses for the layer breeding industry.

With the outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) in China in August 2018, pig release volumes in the country plunged more than 40% in 2019 compared with 2018. This development led to an increase in China's broiler output from less than 900 million birds to 1.3 billion birds in 2020. Entering 2021, as the supply of live pigs gradually recovered, the consumption of chicken started to decline — a key factor in falling broiler consumption.

India has started importing duty-free corn from neighbouring Myanmar, with at least three ships having arrived in Tamil Nadu so far and a few more expected to reach by July-end. Initially, imports were valued at $268 a tonne but prices have now increased. If corn is imported from any other country, India's Customs Department would impose a 60% duty in addition to other charges. In 2020, imports of 500000 tonnes of corn were allowed under India's tariff rate quota (TRQ).

In 2023, China's total broiler chicken release volume reached 13,022 million birds, an increase of 1,165 million or 9.83% from 2022. Among them, the release volume of white-feather broilers was 7,195 million, an 18.14% rise compared with 2022. The market share of white-feather broiler chickens has also expanded to 55.25%. The record output of these birds was due to the expansion of grandparent stock (GPS) broiler breeders.

Muyuan, according to its annual report, slaughtered 13.26 million pigs in 2023, surpassing that of Shuanghui.

The number of pigs produced in China reached 720 million head in 2023, while data from government and private sources estimated it to be 550 million.

In most of 2023 (except for August and September), pig producers in China have been incurring losses, resulting in an overall annual deficit unseen since 2014. According to Wang Zuli, a specialist from the country's Agriculture and Rural Affairs Department, a major factor causing falling prices was the excessive capacity of pig production. While Chinese sow inventories have been trimmed, those cuts have not been substantial.

Despite the significant potential for pig farming to contribute to the better livelihood of the rural poor and meet the demand for animal protein, India's pig population is considerably low.

China currently has more than 1,600 aquafeed producers, with one-third of them having a total annual output of over 200,000 tonnes. Last year, the combined output of the top 10 aquafeed producers in the country was 12,229,000 tonnes, accounting for 53% of China's total aquafeed production; the overall ranking of these industry players remained largely unchanged in 2023.

China's production of aquafeed decreased by 3.79% on-year to 23.06 million tonnes compared with 2022. Aquafeed output dropped by 900,000 tonnes, with production in the first quarter last year down by 250,000 tonnes and the third quarter down by 685,000 tonnes (changes in the second and fourth quarters were minimal). China's aquafeed output consists of freshwater and seawater types, with the former accounting for 85% of total production. The output of freshwater aquafeed in 2023 was 19.86 million tonnes - 980,000 tonnes below that of 2022 and an 8.30% drop.

In recent years, China's aquaculture industry faced developmental bottlenecks. For instance, offshore aquaculture, which occupies a large amount of land area, has to contend with other industries for land space. However, with the rapid development of offshore wind power, the offshore wind station-aquaculture farm hybrid model shed light on the aquaculture industry's recent evolution. This model would allow marine aquaculture to locate further out to deep seas.

China's total salmon imports in 2023 reached 92,920 tonnes, a year-on-year increase of 46.3% and exceeding 2019's historic high of 89,184 tonnes. Chilled salmon imports soared from 49,018 tonnes in 2022 to 80,126 tonnes in 2023, an increase of 63.5%, breaking through the 80,000-tonnes mark for the first time in history and surpassing the historical record of 74,242 tonnes in 2019. Although the amount of salmon imported into China last year hit a new high with a 63.5% increase, this is mainly due to the surge in chilled salmon imports.

India's farmgate shrimp prices were better at US$3/kg in early 2024 until February and March — before falling to nearly US$2.65/kg. This year, shrimp farmers started stocking their ponds in mid-January, anticipating better market prices (the average stocking density varied between 40-60/m2). Overall, shrimp seed quality was satisfactory. However, the demand for shrimp seed was not as high as in 2023. The decline in demand for shrimp seed might continue in the second half of 2024. This trend might even lead to the consolidation of the shrimp hatchery segment in India.

The current level of automation in the feed production industry is languishing in a state liken to "Stone Age," according to Michael Lierau, vice president of ANDRITZ Feed & Biofuel. Along with Lierau, global vice president (automation and digitalisation) Dr. Sohail Nazari, alludes the industry's sorry situation to a complacency for progress. Hence, ANDRITZ's motto today presents an antithesis to this attitude: "Never stand still," it emphatically affirms.

Most of Chinese province Shandong's white feather broiler industry is based in Yantai City. There are five white-feather broiler chicken companies listed on the two major stock exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen — with four of them from Yantai, namely Minhe Husbandry, Shandong Yisheng Livestock & Poultry Breeding, Shandong Xiantan and Springsnow Food.

In 2023, China's inventory of white feather broilers hit a record, but the producers of parent stock (PS) broiler breeders suffered severe losses as the prices of broiler eggs stayed weak, particularly in the second half. Last year, the price of broiler eggs rose from ¥1.55/egg at the start of 2023 to ¥3.75/egg by mid-March, before dropping to ¥1.05/egg by May. In July, prices firmed up to ¥2.50/egg before falling to ¥1.00/egg.

China's total broiler release volume (including white feather, yellow feather and small white feather broiler chickens) in 2023 was 13.022 billion birds, an increase of 1.165 billion birds from 2022. The sales volume of white feather broilers reached a record of 7.195 billion birds. Following a price increase in the first quarter of 2023, the prices of white-feather broilers fell sharply since the second quarter.