Tons of cereal grains held up at ports while feed mills see soybean meal shortages
Month-long transportation strikes over pension reform across France have led to grain shortages, forcing feed mills to halt production, according to reports.
Reuters and France 24 report that French ports have been blocked as a result of rolling stoppages by dock workers. Due to a lack of raw materials, several animal feed production facilities have suspended production.
The farming region of Brittany in the country’s northwest has been hard hit, as it is a major livestock production region. France is one of the European Union’s largest grain producers.
France 24 reported that at least 20 bulk carriers waiting to export grains were stopped at France’s major ports, with an estimated 536,000 tons of cereals – mostly wheat – held up. The president of French feed manufacturers association SNIA, Francois Cholat, told Reuters that port blockages have caused supply outages for soybean meal.
While it is too early to estimate the effects of the disruption on volumes and sales, Cholat said SNIA has received reports of at least partial production stoppages from eight feed mills.
In addition to port blockages, rail strikes also threaten exports of grains to other countries.
France animal feed production
According to a report this month from the European Feed Manufacturers Federation (FEFAC), France’s animal feed output in 2018 was 20.8 million metric tons, the third highest in the EU after Spain and Germany. In 2018, France had 314 registered feed mills.
SNIA has not responded to Feed Strategy’s request for comment.
Strikes last more than a month
The ongoing strikes in France began on December 5, 2019, as more than 30 labor unions launched a protest of President Emmanuel Macron’s proposed reforms to the nation’s pension system. The strikes are the longest in the country’s modern history, according to the BBC, and a recent poll shows strong support of the strikes by the public.
