SE Asia feed firms down

SE Asia feed firms down

SINGAPORE (Reuters): Southeast Asia's feed industry is expected to plunge by between 10 to 50 percent in 1998 from a year ago and no immediate recovery is expected, a U.S. expert said yesterday.

Robert Swick, technical director at the American Soybean Association in Singapore, said total feed production is projected to plunge 50 percent in Indonesia, 20 percent in Thailand, 15 percent in the Philippines and 10 percent each in Malaysia and Vietnam from a year ago.

The industry has been taking a severe beating since currency turmoil started to hit Southeast Asia last July.