China’s agriculture ministry issued a three-year action plan to reduce soymeal use in animal feed as it continues to try to reduce its heavy reliance on soybean imports. The new plan proposes that soymeal ratios in animal feed should be reduced to under 13 per cent by 2025, down from 14.5 per cent in 2022.
Authorities in the world’s top soybean importer already issued guidelines in 2021 to its animal feed industry recommending lower soymeal ratios.
The new plan would “guide the feed industry to reduce the amount of soybean meal, promote the saving and consumption reduction of feed grains, and contribute to ensuring the stable and safe supply of grain and important agricultural products”, said the document published by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. The new target of under 13 per cent by 2025 is slightly lower than an earlier target of 13.5 per cent, but the direction is not new, said Lief Chiang, senior analyst at Rabobank.
“The whole point is to build a more resilient supply chain amid geopolitical risks,” he said. China buys more than 60 per cent of the world’s traded soybeans, well over 90 million tonnes a year, largely from the United States and Brazil.
