IFFO, the Marine Ingredients Organization – the trade group representing the aquafeed industry – reported a 30 percent improvement in the global output of fishmeal and fish oil in March 2021 compared to March 2020.
Total production in the first quarter of 2021 was up significantly, in large part due to the suppressed 2020 figures caused by the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Q1 2020. Between January and March, global fishmeal production was up 60 percent and fish oil production increased by 83 percent over Q1 2020.
Peru and Chile surpassed their previous five-year averages for March, bringing overall fishmeal and fish oil production globally up by nearly 30 percent. Denmark also reported a year-on-year increase in the supply of fish oil in March, according to IFFO.
In April, China’s fishmeal production remained poor, though demand has been rising in recent weeks, IFFO reported. With domestic production curtailed as plants in Shandong and Liaoning remain closed due to the seasonal fishing ban in China, prices have risen in advance of the oncoming aquaculture season, IFFO said.
Pig feed demand in China also continues to grow as the country’s swine stock recovers after an outbreak of African swine fever that decimated stocks.
“Although pig farming continues to be affected by outbreaks of ASF, the swine stock is estimated to be back to 400 million heads,” IFFO reported. “The target of going back to pre-ASF stock levels by the beginning of 2022 appears realistic. As a consequence, pig feed production continues to grow.”
The world’s fishmeal and fish oil production increased 11 percent in 2020, IFFO previously reported.
Photo courtesy of IFFO
