Trace minerals, enzymes, and eubiotics: DSM, Zinpro expand their Chinese footprint

Zinpro’s production facility in Wuxi became operational in June.

It produces high-concentration spray-dried trace minerals for the dairy, poultry and pig sectors aimed at boosting feed conversion, reproduction and immune function.

Speaking to feednavigator.com yesterday, Dr Sou Fei Chin, vice-president of sales for North Asia at Zinpro, reported a 30 to 35% hike in sales for the company in China in the past 12 months. 

And he puts this growth down to a more focused approach by Zinpro, along with the establishment of a stronger distribution network and education drives throughout the country. 

He predicts stronger sales volumes by the end of 2014. “The facility in Wuxi will allow us turnaround product faster – around two weeks from the initial order time, thus eliminating the delays we had shipping trace minerals from the US."​ 

While the price of livestock in China tends to fluctuate more than in the US, Chin said doing business in that market is no different to anywhere else. 

Poultry, pig and egg prices ​

He said there is growing momentum in the livestock sector again in China with pork, poultry and egg prices now “all moving upward.”​ 

While there is a significant number of local trace mineral producers who might undercut Zinpro on price, he said that Chinese livestock producers realize this criteria alone is not a determining factor for choosing one particular supplier over another. “They are beginning to trust us and rely on the additional technical know-how we provide.”​ 

Chin said Zinpro is running poultry and pig research trials focused on areas such as sow performance, and avoiding skin lesions in broilers with a team of experts at its regional office in Shanghai. He said the company is also looking to partner with academic institutes on certain projects. 

And he said the trace mineral expert sees huge opportunities in the Chinese aquaculture segment. 

“We need to get more information on Chinese fish and shrimp varieties but, right now, we don’t have an aquaculture specialist on site to start trial-based research,”​ he said. 

DSM opens Chinese research facility ​

Meanwhile, last month saw DSM open its animal nutrition research facility, located just south of Beijing. It has been developed to address the needs of Chinese livestock operations but is also said to be key for the roll-out out of new feed additives in Europe and the US.

DSM said it will conduct efficacy trials at the facility to support the registration of its pig and poultry products in that country, and to ensure its products can cater to the particular needs of Chinese poultry and pig producers.

China accounts for over 50% of the globe’s total swine production.

The company said the center is one of the first privately-owned research and application facilities in China. It consists of a laboratory, office building and housing for swine and poultry. It will look at the growth performance and digestibility in pigs and poultry using enzymes, eubiotics and vitamins.

Anna-Maria Kluenter, the facility’s director, told us the new facility has been designed and is operated in a way that national and international laws and guidelines for animal welfare are met so that “the trial results can also be used as much as possible in other parts of the world such as the EU and US.”  ​

She said the animal nutrition supplier is taking a step-wise approach to increasing “the complexity of trial activity” ​to allow adequate testing of the facility and training of the staff.

Enzymes, eubiotics and vitamins​

“The new facility is an important step forward in our strategy to provide specialized product development capabilities tailored for local requirements to customers across the world, “​ said Dr Georg Kau, vice president of DSM nutritional products R&D.

“Complementary to our existing research center in Europe, the new site allows us to perform feeding trials with a higher number of animals,” ​he added.