Thailand’s soybean imports have gone up 34 per cent this year, propelled by the demands from livestock, poultry and aquaculture sectors
Imports rose from 1.798mn metric tonnes (MT) to 2.411mn MT in the marketing year 2014-2015, said the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS).
The rapid increase in livestock, poultry and aquaculture sectors is one of the main reasons as soybean is a preferred feed option. In addition, more feed mills are replacing soybean meal with full-fat soybeans in their rations. Soybean is also replacing other oilseed meals especially rapeseed meal.
With Thai agriculture and livestock poised to grow further, there could be a sharp rise in domestic feed consumption in the coming marketing year, added the USDA FAS.
Last year, there was a 11 per cent increase in demand for soybean, again chiefly for the livestock and aquaculture sectors.
