Leading Chinese aquaculture feed producer Guangdong Haid scored revenues of CNY 60.4 billion (USD 9.6 billion, EUR 7.85 billion) in 2020, up 27.3 percent year-on-year. Profits were up 51 percent at CNY 2.5 billion (USD 400 million, EUR 320 million), according to preliminary results published by the company for its investors. Haid produces aquafeed in several countries, including China and Ecuador.
Guangdong Haid’s feed output in 2020 totaled 14.5 million metric tons (MT), up 20 percent year-on-year, but growth was strongest for pig feed and poultry feed accounted for the bulk of volume. Aquafeed output totaled 3.9 million MT, up 11 percent, while output of pig feed rose 35 percent to 3.3 million MT. Haid’s production of chicken feed, at 8.5 million MT, was up 20 percent in volume on 2019 figures.
Overall, Haid’s feed business returned projected profits of CNY 1.95 billion (USD 310 million, EUR 250 million), up 27 percent. Haid’s most profitable sector was its pig-breeding business, which the firm has grown in recent years. It returned CNY 550 million (USD 80 million, EUR 65 million), up 400 percent on 2019 figures. Pig prices have soared due to a supply crunch caused by swine flu spreading across the country in the past two years.
Haid’s sales exceeded its own production. Sales of aquafeed totaled 4.5 million tons, suggesting the firm is distributing various feed inputs, a growing space in China, where feed-additive firms have been building distribution and manufacturing capacity.
Among them is Calysseo, a joint venture between animal feed-additives firm Adisseo and protein innovator Calysta, which recently opened a new plant in Chongqing to produce its FeedKind alternative feed.
“It is widely acknowledged that the world is faced with a protein shortage as our population grows,” Calysta COO and Calysseo Executive Director Thomas JG Huot told SeafoodSource. “It makes sense to supplement our limited natural resources with sustainable alternatives.”
FeedKind’s ability to be used for a variety species, as well as its production in a purpose-built manufacturing facility that is not exposed to weather or other natural conditions “makes it a truly reliable source of protein,” Huot said.
However, Haid is likely to remain a major purchaser of traditional fishmeal for both aqua and pig feed, according to IFFO, the sector’s largest trade group. IFFO told SeafoodSource it “expects long-term growth for premium aqua-feed,” with traditionally-sourced ingredients playing a key role in the future of the industry.
“Being a novel ingredient doesn’t necessarily and directly imply being a sustainable ingredient,” the group said. “Novel ingredients can’t claim to replace fishmeal but rather to supplement it because of the unmatched properties that the latter have such as steady volumes, nutritional qualities, high digestibility and high level of certification.”
Photo courtesy of Guangdong Haid
