JAPAN 1986/87 COMPOUND FEED OUTPUT UP 2.3 PCT
Japanese compound feed output rose 2.3 pct
to 25.80 mln tonnes in 1986/87 ended March 31 from 25.23 mln a
year earlier, the Agriculture Ministry said.
    The marginal rise reflected slight growth in demand for
poultry raising and a moderate increase in demand for beef
cattle raising, Ministry officials said.
    Compound feed sales totalled 26.01 mln tonnes in 1986/87
against 25.40 mln a year ago, while end-March stocks were
217,554 tonnes against 224,101.
    Corn use in feed output in 1986/87 rose to 11.71 mln tonnes
from 11.02 mln a year earlier due to low import prices.
    The officials said corn imports rose because the world
surplus and the yen's strength against the dollar reduced
Chicago prices. The corn compounding ratio rose to 45.2 pct in
1986/87 from 43.4 pct a year earlier.
    Sorghum use rose marginally to 4.80 mln tonnes in 1986/87
from 4.79 mln, but the compounding ratio fell to 18.5 pct from
18.9 pct because of greater corn use. Higher import prices due
to poor harvests last year in major producing nations such as
Argentina made feed makers reluctant to use sorghum.
    Soybean meal use fell to 2.58 mln tonnes from 2.63 mln and
the compounding ratio declined to 10.0 pct from 10.3 pct.
    The drop in soybean meal consumption resulted from
increased use of cheaper rapeseed meal, the officials said.
    Rapeseed consumption in 1986/87 was 563,889 tonnes against
528,152 a year earlier. The compounding ratio rose to 2.2 pct
from 2.1 pct.
 REUTER
