Animal Nutrition

Animal nutrition additives are ingredients added to enable feeds to perform better functions. They can effectively increase the utilization rate of feeds and make up for the nutrition imbalance of feeds. They can also effectively improve the quality of livestock and poultry. Animal nutrition additives play a significant role in the growth of livestock and poultry and the prevention of diseases. Amino acids and phosphates are two dominant products in the global feed additive market. Other feed additives include vitamins, carotenoid, enzymes and protein nitrogen. 

The direct consumption area of feed additives is animal husbandry. The major drive for their consumption growth, therefore, comes from growing population and increasing accumulated wealth in developing countries. The consumption growth of feed additives in these countries is usually much higher than the GDP growth. 

Feed additives are the core of formulated feeds. Their addition amount is small, but they have remarkable functions. The addition of various nutritious additives such as amino acids, vitamins and trace elements can satisfy the needs in the healthy growth of animals and in turn reduce the reliance of animals on grain and soybean meals. The addition of pharmaceutical additives such as vitamins and coccidiostatic drugs can reduce the incidence of diseases and in turn guarantee the healthy growth of animals and increase economic benefits of the breeding sector. The development of feed additives sector will therefore be one of the four priorities in the global fine chemical industry. 

There is no doubt at all as to the sound market prospects of feed additives. The development of feed additive technologies has already involved the integration of multiple disciplines and technologies, including animals, plants, minerals, chemically synthesized products and biological products. Their functions have gradually developed from supplementing nutrients to preventing/curing diseases, increasing the utilization rate of feeds, improving the quality and performance of feeds, and improving the quality of animal products. Their application scope has also extended to various livestock, poultry, aquatic products and special cash animals. As the direct consumption sector of feed additives is animal husbandry, the major drive to the consumption growth of feed additives in the world will come from the growing population and the rapid economic growth in developing countries. In the past decade, as Chinese producers kept expanding the production of feed additives and increasing exports, China has become extremely competitive in the global feed additive market. Driven by upstream/downstream integration in the future, China, the world’s largest feed producer, will also become the biggest consumer of feed additives in the world.