September 22, 2008
Feedmaker in Japan to raise prices by JPY 2,500 per tonne
Zen-Noh, Japan's biggest feedmaker, said it will raise its October-December compound feed prices by about JPY 2,500 (US$23.5) a tonne on average from the previous quarter.
Zen-Noh, which have a 30 percent share of the domestic livestock feed market, did not elaborate on its feed prices.
Zen-Noh's prices in the fourth quarter will be about JPY 12,400 (US$116.44) per tonne higher than a year earlier.
According to government data, Japan's compound feed prices were around JPY 64,800 (US$607) per tonne on average in July-September.
Separately, rival feedmaker Nosan Corp said it would raise its October-December prices by about JPY 3,100 (US$29.11) per tonne.
Chicago corn prices have recently retreated on easing supply concerns and are down about 30 percent from record highs above US$7 per bushel, while US Gulf-Japan shipping costs fell to around US$110 per tonne after topping US$150 in May.
In July-September, farmers actually paid less than JPY 60,000 (US$563.3) per tonne, helped by an industry fund aimed at absorbing sudden rises in compound feed prices and evening out their payment to equal the average of feed prices in the previous four quarters.
Japan grows hardly any corn and imports about 12 million tonnes annually for animal feed, mostly from the US, making it the world's biggest corn importer.