2008-062 Mengvoederproductie Brabant SANDY - LEI

Summary
The growth of compound feed production in Noord
Brabant, 20082013
Growth of the compound feed industry
The compound feed industry plays an important role in the supply of products to
primary agriculture. The turnover of the industry in the Netherlands amounts to
approximately 4,000 million euros. The number of compound feed companies
has decreased considerably in recent decades through mergers and takeovers.
The number of firms is relatively large in comparison with other sectors of agro
industry. Thanks to the wave of concentration in the sector, approximately 60%
of compound feed is produced by the five largest firms. The large firms are as
suming an increasingly international character as a result of takeovers abroad.
The interest in foreign businesses is stimulated by the limited growth possibili
ties in the Netherlands itself.
A steep decline in the national compound feed production has occurred in
the past decade. The highest production level was achieved in 1997, but pro
duction has declined since then by approximately 4 million tonnes to a little over
13 million tonnes in 2007. The decline is almost entirely attributable to the
shrinking livestock population. The falling domestic demand was initially partly
compensated by rising exports of compound feed, but this trend has not con
tinued. Exports have fallen since the turn of the century and they have become
fairly stable in the past few years and now amount to approximately 1 million
tonnes per annum.
Since no provincial production figures of compound feed are available, a ta
ble giving national and regional figures has been included. The share of the
southern Netherlands (NoordBrabant and Limburg) in the national production fell
by over 9% in the period from 2000 to 2004. The production figures show a
decline for all kinds of livestock. No regional production figures are available for
the most recent years.
Available supply of animal feed
Besides grains, many products from the food and drink industry are used for
the production of compound feed. The domestic supply is limited, however. A
high proportion of the raw materials used for the production of compound feed
are therefore imported. Besides imports from France and Germany, among
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