August 23, 2010
Japan''s compound feed production shows decrease
Following the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in April, Japan''s total compound feed output fell 4.7% in June from a year earlier to about two million tonnes, according to the Agriculture Ministry.
June''s data showed a second straight month of on-year declines, after total output of compound feed for animals fell 1% in May from a year ago to 1.984 million tonnes to mark the first such drop since January.
Traders had expected the disease in Japan to affect the data from May, and while the prefecture government of Miyazaki in southern Japan is likely to officially declare an end to the epidemic later this month, traders said animal feed output will continue to fall for several more months.
"The impact of the disease is the main reason for the drop, and feed output will keep falling through the rest of the year, as it will take time for livestock to grow," said an official at a feed company.
About 290,000 pigs and cows were slaughtered to contain the disease, meaning about 30,000 tonnes of compound feed output would be shed monthly, the official.
Miyazaki has the second-largest number of pigs and the third-largest number of cows in Japan. Officials in Miyazaki lifted the last ban on transfers of animals late in July.
In addition, Japan''s extremely hot summer this year has dampened pigs'' appetite for feed while killing chicken in northern Japan, and the effect of declining feed demand will be seen in data for July and August, the feed company official said.
Pig feed accounts for about 32% of Japan''s total compound feed output, while feed for cows makes up about 25%.
Japan, the world''s biggest corn importer, bought 11.3 million tonnes of corn for feed use in 2009, down 3.3% from the previous year. US origin-corn accounted for 96%, with minor suppliers including Ukraine and Argentina. It was the fourth straight year of decline from a peak in 2005 of 12.2 million tonnes.