(Yicai Global) Oct. 11 -- The semi-governmental China Feed Industry Association is seeking to cap crudeprotein and soybean mealcontentin pig feed as imported soy costs rise and the price of soybean meal -- the main protein source in fodder -- keeps soaring, to cut the nation's imports by 10 million tons, one unidentified insider said.

Soybean meal, which is solvent- or expeller-extracted from the beans, is the main source of livestock and human protein in the world, public information shows.

China is short on fodder and its protein supply has long relied on imports, the CFIA said in soliciting comments on pig feed standards on Sept. 30. Better technological research can greatly drop crude protein levels, it said, adding the new guideline sets a ceiling on crude protein in swine fodder, online news portal Sina reported yesterday.

The pig protein index will drop an estimated 2 percent, while the amount of soybean meal will fall by about 4 percent. Soybean meal use will drop by 8 million tons and that of soy by 10 million tons, calculated per annual pig feed output.

Soybean meal content will decline from 15-16 percent to 11-13 percent based on the new measure, which will not, however, pare the overall protein proportion since substitution of industrial varieties will offset the reduced meal ratio, but pork output will be slightly down, the insider advised.

Editor: Ben Armour