This section focuses on an overview of feed additives as well as their manufacturing processes and uses. Also, please check out the introduction to feed additives manufacturers, supply chain issues, feed additives suppliers, and price trends. Sinofi can help our feed clients buy suitable feed additives in bulk for their industrial applications at wholesale prices based on CAS numbers.

What are Feed Additives?

Feed additives are substances that enhance animal nutrition and are added to animal feed to improve feed utilization and enhance farm animals’ growth performance. They mostly contain vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and other essential nutrients that help prevent diseases and maintain the optimum health of animals. The end consumers of feed additives are feed mills that manufacture compound feed. Apart from ruminants, poultry, and swine, animals include aqua, pets, equine, and other smaller farm animals. Feed additives play a critical role in modern animal agriculture by enhancing nutrition, health, and productivity, while the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) establishes a preventive framework to ensure the safety of these additives and the broader food supply. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) also establishes Regulation EC No 1831/2003 to manage all feed additives and to make them meet the Regulation’s definition.

Bulk Feed Additives Manufacturers

This market segment is dominated by large manufacturers such as Cargill, BASF, Evonik Industries, Nutreco, Novozymes, ADM, and Adisseo. They are at the forefront of transforming animal agriculture into a more sustainable and health-conscious industry. Sinofi is a bulk feed additives manufacturer in China, and we have a manufacturing facility with 2,500 square meters for the production of feed additives and premixes. Our factory is located in the Anqing National High-tech Industrial Development Zone in Anhui Province. We manufacture and supply different feed additives at bulk prices for our feed clients around the world.

Manufacturing Process of Feed Additives

Feed additives are produced through various manufacturing processes, including chemical synthesis, bio-fermentation, synthetic biology, and extraction from natural sources. Each manufacturing technology offers unique advantages and is chosen based on the type of additive and its production cost.

Bulk Feed Additives Suppliers

Feed additives suppliers play a crucial role in ensuring feed manufacturers have a stable availability of high-quality additives for their production. BASF, Cargill, Evonik, Nutreco, ADM, and Adisseo are global suppliers of feed additives for livestock, aquaculture, pets, and companion animals. Sinofi is a bulk feed additives supplier in China, and we have a warehouse with 1,200 square meters for feed additives in our factory. Currently, we sell our feed additives from China at wholesale prices. In the future, we plan to establish distribution hubs in the EU and USA to shorten the shipping time of our feed additives.

Supply Chain of Feed Additives

In recent years, the demand for feed additives has been increasing due to the increasing consumer demand for healthy and safe livestock products. Therefore, to enhance the return on investment, breeders and livestock producers are ensuring animal health by supplying feed additives such as vitamins, minerals, and amino acids, among others, for animal feed. Maintaining the integrity of the feed additive logistics and supply chain is a critical component of the global agricultural and livestock industries. Feed additives enhance the nutritional value and quality of animal feed. Owing to the rising threat of various viral and bacterial infections, manufacturers and suppliers of animal feed additives must keep a strong check on their supply chain processes.

Further, the current volatile environment is driven by the African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreak in several regions and the avian influenza outbreak worldwide. Hence, feed manufacturers need a complex but efficient supply chain to handle it. From the procurement of feed additives to the finished feed products, we ensure that the quality of our feed additives is safe and the efficacy is consistent.

Wholesale and Buy Feed Additives in Bulk

As a bulk feed additives manufacturer, we supply high-quality feed additives to large feed manufacturers and distributors. We also wholesale our feed additives to small customers and pet lovers because they need a wide variety of feed additives in small quantities. The American Pet Products Association states that almost 85 million households own a pet. Over the last 30 years, the rate of pet ownership has gone from 56% to 68% in most households. To serve them, we can wholesale our feed additives at bulk prices and provide a one-stop purchasing and shipping service according to customers’ needs.

Price Trends of Feed Additives

Many factors, including raw material costs, supply chain dynamics, regulatory changes, and evolving consumer demands, influence the prices of feed additives. For instance, the COVID-19 pandemic considerably impacted the livestock feed industry. The worldwide lockdown restrictions imposed to counter the spread of the pandemic had disrupted the supply chain of raw ingredients used to manufacture animal feed additives. Additionally, the temporary closure of manufacturing units and halting of shipments resulted in a lack of supply of micro-nutrients such as amino acids, vitamins, and minerals. In March, Evonik, one of the well-known vendors in feed additives, declared a force majeure to fulfill the need for amino acids, especially threonine amino acids.

Types of Feed Additives

Feed additives can be categorized based on their function, and the following are the main types:

Antibiotics

Tetracyclines, Penicillin, Pramycin, Arsanilic acid, Bacitracin methylene disalicylate, Lincomycin, Macrolides and Lincosamides, Tylosine, Virginiamycin, and Monensin.

Vitamins

Vitamin A, Vitamin B, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Vitamin D, Vitamin K and other Vitamins.

Antioxidants

BHA (Butylated hydroxy anisole), BHT (Butylated hydroxytoluene), selenium, TBHQ, sodium erythorbate, tocopherol, etc.

Amino Acids

Tryptophan, Lysine, Methionine, Threonine, Leucine, Isoleucine, Valine, Histidine, and other sulfuric amino acids.

Enzymes

Carbohydrases, Phytases, Proteases, Thioglucosidase, and Cellulases.

Mycotoxin Detoxifiers

Binders: clays, bentonites, zeolites, and hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate (HSCAS).
Biotransformers: enzymes, yeasts, and others.

Prebiotics

Inulin, Fructo Oligosaccharides, Galacto Oligosaccharides, and other Prebiotics

Probiotics

Lactobacilli, Bifidobacteria, Bacillus, Streptococcus, Pediococcus, Enterococcus, Bifidobacterium, and Propionibacterium.

Flavors and Sweeteners

Flavors: The natural flavors include the plant materials, such as garlic, anise, and black cumin, whereas artificial flavors include chemical products, including vanillin, sodium glutamate, etc.

Sweeteners: Sodium saccharin, Calcium saccharin, Sumarin, NHDC, Maltodextrin, Sucrose, Glucose, Sorbitol, Neotame, Cyclamate, Acesulfame K, and Sucralose are some of the widely used sweeteners in animal feed.

Pigments

Carotenoids, Curcumin, and Spirulina.

Binders

Natural binders: guar gum, seaweed binder, locust bean gum, corn starch, tapioca starch, potato starch, wheat gluten, gelatin, and chitosan.
Synthetic binders: bentonites, lignosulphonates, sodium alginate, sodium hexametaphosphate, carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), hemicelluloses, and polymethlolcarbamide (Basfin).

Minerals

Microminerals: chromium, cobalt, copper, fluorine, iodine, iron, manganese, molybdenum, selenium, and zinc.
Macrominerals: calcium, chlorine, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and sulfur.

Acidifiers

Lactic acid, Propionic acid, Fumaric acid, Formic acid, and Butyric acid.

Feed Additive Uses

A Feed Formula for Hybrid Meat Chickens

This formula provides a feed for hybrid meat chickens. The chickens that consume this feed have been shown to have enhanced immunity and a reduced feed-to-meat ratio.

• Corn: 500-565
• Wheat: 80-150
• Soybean meal: 120-270
• Cottonseed meal: 20-50
• Peanut meal: 0-40
• DDGS (distillers dried grains with solubles): 30-55
• Soybean oil: 15-35
• Limestone: 11-13
• Dicalcium phosphate: 6-13
• Salt: 2-3
• Methionine: 1.2-1.5
• Lysine sulfate: 4-6.5
• Choline chloride: 0.6-1.0
• Compound trace elements: 1.6-2
• Compound vitamins: 0.4

Additionally, it can include the following components by weight:

• Betaine: 0.4
• Threonine: 0.2
• Enzyme preparation: 0.1
• Ethoxyquin: 0.1
• Nosiheptide: 0.2
• Dinitolmide: 0-0.5
• Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA): 0.05

The soybean meal contains 43% crude protein. Lysine sulfate contains 65% lysine. The enzyme preparation is a mixture of protease, amylase, or phytase, each accounting for one-third.

When preparing this feed, mix the components uniformly. Some elements have specific roles:

Betaine: Acts as an essential methyl donor in the animal body, promoting RNA synthesis and amino acid metabolism, enhancing protein synthesis, increasing breast muscle rate, reducing abdominal swelling rate, and improving nutrient redistribution. It also enhances neuroendocrine functions, increasing serum GH and IGF-1 levels, thereby promoting animal growth. Betaine buffers against osmotic pressure changes and enhances the function of sodium-potassium pumps, ensuring intestinal epithelial cell function and the efficacy of anticoccidial drugs.
Enzyme preparation: Increases the content of endogenous enzymes in the intestine, stimulates the development of endogenous enzymes, and provides phytase, improving feed absorption and utilization and increasing the utilization rate of phytic phosphorus in chickens.
Ethoxyquin: Prevents feed oxidation during storage, ensuring the practical content of vitamins and other nutrients.
Nosiheptide: Promotes chicken growth, improves feed conversion rate, effectively prevents and controls necrotic enteritis caused by Clostridium perfringens, and increases the survival rate of chicks.
Dinitolmide: Acts on the first generation of coccidia, can be used alone for prevention, does not damage chicken immunity, promotes growth, is less likely to cause drug resistance, has stable product properties and good fluidity, and acts on both schizonts and gametocytes.
Gamma-aminobutyric acid: Regulates the central nervous system, increases the concentration of central neurotransmitter (GABA), inhibits sympathetic nerve excitability, calms animals, significantly reduces fighting, stimulates the secretion of insulin and neuropeptide Y, promotes carbohydrate, fat, and protein metabolism, improves feed nutrient digestibility, and stimulates feeding behavior by increasing the excitability of the feeding center.

In the compound trace elements, the components by weight percentage are:

Copper sulfate pentahydrate: 1.57%
Ferrous sulfate monohydrate: 15.0%
Manganese sulfate monohydrate: 16.1%
Zinc sulfate monohydrate: 12.86%
Sodium selenite: 0.056%
Calcium iodate: 0.083%
The remainder is maifanstone.

In the compound vitamins, the components by weight percentage are:

Vitamin A: 6.0%
Vitamin D3: 1.5%
Vitamin E: 10%
Vitamin K3: 1.5%
Vitamin B1: 0.7%
Vitamin B2: 2.4%
Vitamin B6: 1.2%
Vitamin B12: 0.5%
Niacin: 10.8%
Pantothenic acid: 3.5%
Folic acid: 0.3%
Biotin: 1%
The remainder is maifanstone.

As food safety concerns regarding dairy and meat products have increased the use of feed additives in many countries, leading manufacturers are rapidly investing in research and development (R&D) to upgrade their manufacturing technologies and improve product yield and quality.

Moreover, the growing consumption of animal-derived products has encouraged farmers to use feed additives to prevent disease outbreaks in livestock and to enhance their value for human consumption, prompting feed additive manufacturers to produce more green, safe, and effective products.