Market Trends of Maize Industry
Increase in Demand for Animal-based Protein Sources
Population growth, rising incomes in developing nations, and urbanization have led to a surge in global livestock consumption. The levels of income and population growth have been found to be directly correlated to the consumption of milk, meat, and eggs, which is increasing at the expense of staple foods. For instance, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), poultry meat consumption per capita in 2018 was 14.3 kg, which increased to 14.87 kg in 2020. Therefore, the pressure on the livestock industry has intensified in recent years to meet the rising demand for meat and high-value animal protein. For instance, in India, dairy farmers have increasingly replaced local, low-yielding dairy cattle breeds with higher-yielding crossbred cows and buffaloes to improve milk yields.
Maize is one of the key ingredients of almost every type of compound feed for animal types, such as ruminants, poultry swine, and aquaculture. So, to cater to the increased demand for feed rations, maize is widely used. This has increased production on a global scale. For instance, according to FAO, global maize production increased from 1.14 billion ton to 1.16 billion ton in 2020. Along with this, the area under its production also increased from 196 million hectares in 2019 to 201 million hectares in 2020. With the increase in production, trade is also encouraged around the world. According to USDA, the global trade shipments of corn amounted to over 181 million metric tons in the 2021/2022 trade year. Hence, the increasing demand for animal-based protein sources is likely to drive the production and trade market for maize at a global level.
North America to Dominate the Global Maize Market
North America is expected to be the largest market for maize, followed by Asia-Pacific, over the forecast period owing to the high production of maize crops and its consumption as animal feed. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), in 2020, the United States was the largest producer of maize with 360,251 thousand ton, accounting for 30.99% of the total global production; maize is one of the drivers of the US economy. Most of the maize consumed in the region is used as the main energy ingredient for livestock feed, followed by sorghum and wheat. Maize is also used in processing a wide range of food and industrial products, including cereals, alcohol, sweeteners, and by-product feed.
The United States is one of the top exporters of maize owing to its high production. It exported over 61.5 million metric ton of corn in 2021, accounting for almost a third of total corn exports worldwide. The value of corn exports reached USD 19.1 billion in 2021. This rise in exports contributed to an increase in the market for maize in the United States.
Further, corn remains the primary crop in Mexico, and the consumption for the period of 2017-2018 was 20.57 million ton, which increased to 21.53 million ton by 2019-2020. Most of this increase was due to animal feed, owing to changing diet patterns and increased expenditure on animal-sourced proteins. With the rise in the usage of maize in a wide range of applications, the demand for maize is expected to grow during the forecast period.
