Animal feed industry sees a tie for corn with ethanol industry
As the 50 per cent US tariffs on India have hit the Indian shrimp sector, the feed manufacturers have said that they are going to face the consequences as it would have an adverse impact on the feed consumption by the shrimp producers.
Divya Kumar Gulati, President of the Compound Livestock Feed Manufacturers Association (CLFMA), has asked the Union Government to focus on forging Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with other countries, like the one the country signed with the United Kingdom, to bail the industry out.
“The livestock feed sector is experiencing a consistent growth rate of 6-8 per cent annually. This growth, however, brings a significant demand for raw materials. A primary concern is the diversion of corn for ethanol production, which creates a potential conflict over corn availability for feed,” he told businessline.
The animal feed market currently stands at $16 billion as against $11.5 billion in 2019.
To mitigate this, the government has diverted 5.2 million tonnes of rice for ethanol manufacturing. Despite this measure, Gulati anticipates a shortage within one to two years as the industry continues to expand, noting that there are no plans to meet the situation.
Corn constitutes 50-55 per cent of the feed formulation in poultry feed. The industry currently produces 60 million tonnes of feed, with poultry feed accounting for 40 million tonnes. For this, about 20-22 million tonnes of corn are required.
Given that the total corn production is 36-37 million tonnes, and 9-10 million tonnes are needed for E20 ethanol production, there is “no corn left for feed manufacturing” after accounting for food and starch production. This is why the government intervened by diverting rice to ethanol production.
US tariff impact
Another problem facing the industry involves tariffs, particularly concerning shrimp exports. India produces 1 million tonnes of shrimp, primarily for the US market, as “it is not consumed much in India.”
Gulati expressed that the industry “never bothered to develop the domestic market like we did with poultry, being content with exports”. In contrast, poultry has a “95 per cent live market and 100 per cent consumed, with 140 billion eggs also consumed domestically”.
Shrimp feed, at 2 million tonnes, is significantly more expensive – 2-3 times the poultry feed value – which will negatively impact the industry. “We appealed to the Government to bridge this gap by forging FTAs with more markets, like we signed with the UK.”
Published on September 6, 2025
