Zhanjiang-based Guangdong Yuehai Feed Group, one of the largest aquatic feed producers in the country, plans to invest in Vietnam and India to tap into those markets.

Preliminary work is under way for a plant in Vietnam designed to produce 50,000 to 80,000 tons of shrimp and fish feed annually, said Han Shulin, vice-president of the group.

The group will invest more than $10 million in the wholly-owned project.

For the plant in India, the group intends to work with a local partner. The first phase is expected to support an annual capacity of up to 60,000 tons of shrimp feed, Han said.

As the largest fish feed producer and one of the top three shrimp feed producers in the country, Guangdong Yuehai has positioned its marketing, research and development systems well for expansion beyond the border, he said.

The company's current plants produce about 400,000 tons of fish feed and 300,000 tons of shrimp feed per year.

As the country pursues a more sustainable development path, the domestic feed industry is investing massively in R&D, making such changes as lifting the proportions of vegetable protein versus animal protein in their feed products.

Another major Zhanjiang-based aquaculture firm, Evergreen Group, has also invested in feed plants in Vietnam. Earlier this year, it invested in a feed company in Indonesia, pledging an investment of $654,500.

Dubbed China's "capital of shrimps," Zhanjiang supplies about 15 percent of the world's shrimp market and 67 percent of the domestic market, also taking a significant position in tilapia production and offering a wide range of other aquatic products.

(China Daily 11/29/2016 page22)