Ruminant ingredients deliver for Balchem but monogastric sales dip

By Jane Byrne

- Last updated on GMT

Ruminant ingredients deliver for Balchem but monogastric sales dip

Related tags Milk

US headquartered, Balchem Corporation, in its Q1 2015 results, reported that its animal nutrition and health unit realized sales of $42.7 million, an organic growth increase of 4.5%, over the prior year comparable quarter.

It said overall net sales for the company, which has food, pharma and nutrition divisions, jumped 68.5% to $144.9m for the quarter up to 31 March 2015.

Sales in the ruminant ingredients sector, noted Balchem, were very strong, jumping around 38% from the prior year comparable quarter driven by a 19% hike in volumes sold, and a changing product mix, with good performance for rumen protected choline and amino acids.

“The health of the US dairy industry continues to support strong demand for our products. Lower feed prices, along with continued strong demand for milk in Q1, were key factors that are expected to continue to drive producer profitability in 2015,”​ said the group.

However its monogastric species sales did not fare as well – dipping about 7% from Q1 2014.

Balchem cited slightly lower sales volumes of choline chloride in international poultry markets, and the negative impact of currency exchange, as the primary reasons for the decrease.

Pet and aquaculture targeted products also had a poorer performance than the prior year quarter as well, it reported.

However, the firm said earnings from operations for the animal nutrition and health segment increased around 105% to $8.5m compared to the $4.2m recorded in Q1 2014. Balchem said this was due to the “the noted product mix, production and logistic efficiencies, as well as cost decreases of certain key petrochemical raw materials.”

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