13 May 2021 - The Compound Livestock Feed Manufacturers Association of India (CLFMA) predicts 6.09% growth for the domestic feed sector between 2019 and 2025, regardless of the second wave of COVID-19 and the soaring prices of raw materials.
“India’s animal feed market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6.09% over the forecast period to reach a market size of US$16.653 billion in 2025 from US$11.677 billion in 2019”, Mr. Neeraj Kumar Srivastava, chairman at CLFMA, told Feedinfo.
“We expect to achieve pre-covid feed demand and feed production levels by the end of FY22 only and this is very much dependent upon the recovery of B2B sales in restaurants, hotels, QSR chains and eateries”, Mr. Srivastava added. “However, we are yet to achieve the pre-COVID demand levels for livestock products and livestock feed as B2B demand from restaurants and QSR chains has not recovered and feed raw material prices like soybean have increased drastically by more than 40%.”
The CLFMA chairman went on to say that the lockdowns and restrictions India is witnessing due to the second severe wave of COVID-19 in the country will “certainly impact the demand of livestock products and feed production adversely.”
Mr. Srivastava added that a lot of efforts were made by the industry, supported by the Ministry of Agriculture to increase consumer confidence and consumption of poultry and cattle products.
“By the end of Q2 FY21, the poultry sector bounced back with as much as 70% consumption in comparison to pre-COVID times,” he said. “The cattle feed industry also improved due to an increase in global prices of skimmed milk and domestic demand to the tune of 70-80%.”
However, he added that the demand for poultry products crashed with the outbreak of bird flu at the beginning of 2021.
“The bird flu outbreaks in a few parts of the country caused consumers again to refrain from poultry product consumption, and that led to a crash of the market in January-February 2021”, he told Feedinfo.
When asked about the recent surge of new COVID-19 cases in India and the impact on the industry, Mr. Srivastava said that the feed sector will continue monitoring the evolving situation.
“CLFMA is very much concerned by these developments and having a close look at the evolving situation. We will continue to work with the government and various other stakeholders in policy-making to support the animal feed industry during these unprecedented times”, he said.