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Feed makers bear the brunt of bird flu

Sohel Parvez
Feed makers count falling sales in the wake of reduced demand for feed in the poultry sector after bird flu attacks took a toll on production in recent months.
During the January-March quarter of 2012, feed sales dropped by 30 percent to 400,000 tonnes from the same period a year ago, said Ihtesham Shahjahan, general secretary of Feed Industries Association Bangladesh (FIAB).
"These are conservative figures. But it would be more," said Shahjahan, also managing director of Quality Feeds Ltd, a leading seller of feed.
In the face of falling sales, many mills cut down production and put their sales target downwards.
And the reduced consumption of feed has begun to bite maize growers as the prices of the grain, the main ingredient for feed, have fallen amid a slack demand among feed millers.
The feed industry passes through the lull after poultry farming fell due to avian influenza attacks since the end of2011.
Including poultry farms, the disease ravaged a number of breeding farms and thus production of day-old chicks (DOC) of both broilers and layers slumped this year.
Average production of broiler DOC, which is used for meat production, fell to 50 lakh a week in 2012 from nearly 90 lakh per week last year. Production of layer DOC for egg production also nosedived, said Shamsul Arefin Khaled, director of Nourish Feeds Ltd.
"The demand for feeds depends on both supply and demand for the one-day-old chicks. The higher the production of chicks, the higher the demand for feed," said Khaled of Nourish. The firm is also engaged in poultry breeding.
"We have already slashed production and revised sales target downwards," he said.
This is the second time after 2008 that the feed industry, which caters to poultry and fish farming, bears the brunt of bird flu attacks on the poultry industry. Currently, around 70 feed companies, including some foreign ones, are operating in Bangladesh to meet the demand for feed at 27 lakh to 30 lakh tonnes a year, according to an estimate of the FIAB.
Fazle Rahim Khan Shariar, managing director of Aftab Feed Products Ltd, said the reduced demand for poultry feed has taken a toll on the prices of maize as millers are less interested to procure the rawmaterial.
"Mills that have high carryover stocks of raw materials are not buying maize now," hesaid, "Ifthedemandforfeedwas high, we would clear the stocks faster and buy more maize from farmers."
He said his company like others registered reduced sales in the current year.
"There will be less production of chicken and so the demand for feed will decline," said Shariar of Aftab Feed, also a leading player in the poultry industry.
Shariar also said many poultry breeders, who have suffered losses for bird flu attacks in the recent past, now shy away from resuming production, fearing further attacks of the disease.
It will take a year to recover from the damage, said FIAB General Secretary Shahjahan.
The demand for feed might drop by 20 percent to 22- 24 lakh tonnes at the end of 2012 because of bird flu, he said.
sohel@thedailystar.net