While international feed production increased to a record 1.07 billion metric tons (MT) last year, a decade of strong aquaculture feed growth was brought to a halt, finds a new report.
According to the “2018 Alltech Global Feed Survey,” which is the seventh edition of the annual study that now covers feed plants in 144 countries, total feed production increased by 2.6 percent in 2017. Europe and Asia-Pacific tied for the title of the fastest-growing region, each with a 3 percent increase over 2016. This growth primarily stemmed from increases in pig and broiler feed production (Europe) and pig and pet feed production (Asia-Pacific).
However, after 10 years of strong growth, the survey reported that aquaculture feeds only “remained stable” in 2017. Its numbers found declines in the Asia-Pacific and European regions, while Latin America and the Middle East increased their aquafeed production. African countries mainly increased their production.
The survey’s author, Aidan Connolly, chief innovation officer and vice-president of corporate accounts at Alltech, confirmed that while the aquaculture feed growth was relatively flat, these results could be deceiving.
“A growing global population, increased desire to consume fish because of reported health benefits and a need to produce farmed fish more sustainably and economically should have resulted in strong growth, but Asia feed production weighs disproportionately, representing nearly 70 percent of overall global fish feed production,” he said.
Africa and North America were relatively flat but strong growth was seen in Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.
The decrease in the Asia-Pacific region primarily emanated from China, where aquaculture feed production decreased by 5 percent. Connolly said that as the world’s leading aquaculture producer – producing as much as five times more than the second strongest producer – this reduction was “significant.”
Meanwhile, Vietnam reported a decrease of about 9 percent, Indonesia’s production fell 17 percent, while Taiwan and Japan each reported drops of 9 percent and 3 percent respectively.
“These trends have been in progress over several years and reflect disease outbreaks, particularly in shrimp, and a growing consolidation of the industry into fewer larger and more sophisticated farms,” he said. “Several smaller markets grew significantly including Brazil, Chile and Peru, and the Middle East, led by Iran. Africa could have grown also but the region’s leading country, Egypt, saw a drop in production.”
In volume terms, carp led the production of aquaculture feed, with shrimp and tilapia in second and third place respectively.
