China - Recent Chinese feed producers adapt to rising soybean meal prices (Voice_over) Feed producers across China are taking proactive measures to offset the impact of rising raw material costs, like soybean meal, a key ingredient for animal feed, that's surged by more than 15 percent since December. In east China's Jiangsu Province, some feed production companies have been forced to mark-up product prices as a result of the soybean meal price hike. Like this feed producer with a daily shipment volume exceeding 1,000 tons. To further offset costs, the company is investing more in mechanization to increase efficiency, and R and D for new products to expand their market reach. (Sound_bite) Jiao Hongjun, Deputy general manager, feed producer in Jiangsu Province: "We have ramped up efforts in developing specialized aquatic feeds and expanding market reach. Sales of shrimp, crab, and high-end saltwater fish feeds have experienced notable growth." (Voice_over) Meanwhile, feed producers in Shaoxing City of east China's Zhejiang Province, which is a major yellow rice-wine production base in the country, are thinking outside the box. They're leveraging the byproduct of the region's wine production- yellow wine lees- as a protein-rich alternative to soybean meal and corn. (Sound_bite) Xu Huangen, Tech head, feed producer in Shaoxing City: "After processing, 20,000 tons of wet yellow wine lees can replace about 7,200 tons of soybean meal, saving around 4 to 8 U.S. dollars per ton in costs." (Voice_over) Several feed production companies in the country have recently announced price hikes, with product prices increasing between 7 to 28 U.S. dollars per ton, including products like piglet feed, chicken feed, and cattle feed. [Restriction: No access Chinese mainland]