By Simon Duke, Managing Editor - EMEA
Deutsche Tiernahrung Cremer (DTC), Germany’s largest private manufacturer of compound feed expects to produce 2.25 million tonnes of compound/mineral/special feed in 2024 – a slight decline from 2.3 million tonnes of feed products produced in 2023. The company operates 15 locations, including two mineral and specialty feed factories in Wildeshausen and Memmingen.
Putting these figures into context, German compound feed production in 2023 amounted to around 21.7 million tonnes, representing a 1.6% y-o-y decline, according to March 2024 data from the national feed association Deutscher Verband Tiernahrung (DVT). This decline was attributed to the contraction in pig feed production, which fell by around 500,000 tonnes, or 5.8% year on year. Swine feed dominates the German market, representing around 8 million tonnes or 37% of the total feed production in 2023.
Speaking to Expana at last week's EuroTier trade show in Hannover, Germany, Dr. Heinrich Kleine Klausing, Managing Director at DTC said a decline in pig feed production at his company’s factories, in line with the drop in pork production in Germany, can be expected for 2024, but piglet feed production will be relatively stable. He noted that the smaller farms in South Germany are growing, and the overall technical knowledge of pig farmers related to feed efficiencies is improving.
Christoph Klöpper, CEO of DTC, further explained that 2024 will be a year of stability in terms of organic growth for the company’s compound feed and companion animal feed operations. This follows a year of high-level strategy review in 2023.
Klöpper said that his firm is planning a double digit million-euro investment in 2025 to continue to modernize its operational footprint and realize energy savings.
Commenting on this, Kleine Klausing added that energy costs in Germany are high compared to other countries. “Energy prices won’t decrease but we have factored that in. It’s the spikes which are of more concern,” he said.
Volatility in raw material costs remains a key concern, they said, mentioning that DTC purchases approximately 2 million tonnes of grain per year. However, Klöpper stressed that political risks are increasingly becoming a major factor in risk management strategies. In Germany, the company will keep an eye on the upcoming election. On the international level, the business expects more and more protectionist measures, notably from the US in the wake of Donald Trump’s US elections victory.
Klöpper and Kleine Klausing went on to say that DTC will also be investing in the digitalization of its processes. Any new investments and replacement investments will be measured on their sustainability criteria.
DTC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cremer Holding, employs approximately 800 staff.
