June 21, 2011
Japan''s April compound feed output drops on-year
The total compound feed output of Japan fell 6.9% in April against a year earlier to 2.027 million tonnes, for the fourth consecutive month of on-year declines, Agriculture Ministry data showed on Monday (Jun 20).
In March, total output of compound feed for animals decreased 1.8% from a year earlier to 2.13 million tonnes, after falling 4% in February.
A farm ministry official said the drop in April output was likely prompted by the loss of output from factories that were closed for the whole month after the March 11 earthquake and subsequent tsunami damaged industrial facilities in wide areas of northeastern Japan.
Of the 163 factories surveyed for the data, 157 responded, with the six who did not a€" or about 4% of the total a€" likely to have been among those shut due to the quake, the official said.
The March data also reflected disrupted production at 3% of the total factories surveyed, and the official said this probably carried over into April as well.
A higher price of corn was another possible reason prompting a shift from mixed feed, which mainly uses corn to formula feed, the official said, adding that the rise in the corn price since July last year could distort on-year comparisons in coming months.
In April, output of formula feed fell 6.5% from year earlier while output of mixed feed plunged 28.1% from a year earlier.
The price of corn more than doubled to around US$7.6 a bushel in April from a year ago.