Feed demand in Thailand could reach 18mn tonnes this year, according to estimates by the Thai Feed Mill Association
The demand has been spurred mainly due to broiler production, stated officials. The demand will increase by another five per cent, due to chicken exports in the second half when a 12-year suspension on Thai frozen chicken meat entering South Korea ends.
Overall, feed demand in Thailand consisted 40 per cent for broiler, 30 per cent for swine and 20 per cent for layer production. Specifically, swine and layer is expected to witness an increase of three and five per cent respectively.
The association also revealed that corn consumption will increase by five per cent to about 5.3mn tonnes, mainly due to increasing livestock production. Corn is the key feed ingredient in Thailand. Of the entire production, up to 60 per cent will be consumed by poultry feed.
On the other hand, wheat could become a possible feed replacement in place of corn, as the average price of wheat imports is lesser than that of corn. However, due to inadequate volume of corn production in Thailand, local mills are likely to depend on neighbouring countries for corn imports, revealed officials.
