The supply of raw materials for poultry production, particularly grain and protein, has become a key issue determining the growth – and possibly competitive strength – and future of the industry. The Thai Feed Mill Association estimates that a total of 3.52 million tonnes of maize and 1.63 million tonnes of soybean were used to feed broiler and layer chickens in 2007 (Table 9). The amount required would be much more in the future should the industry grow back to the pre-HPAI level of production – which would be easily attainable. Shortage of local feed ingredients has made the industry reliant in part on imported feeds. In addition to the feed costs, some agricultural products are under tariff quota protection.
For example, while the import duty on soybean meal in quota is a mere 4 percent,
the “out of quota” import duty is prohibitively high – at 119 percent.