Feed mill economics
Feed mill cost, capacity and energy — market by market
What capacity do you need, what will a tonne cost to produce, how much electricity and storage will the plant require, and how should competing suppliers be compared? These pages answer those questions for the world's main feed-milling economies using explicitly labelled planning bands — never quotations — and link straight into the calculators and a structured RFQ.
Markets
Calculators
Direct answers
How much does a feed mill cost?
As an indicative global planning band, a 10 t/h pelleted compound feed plant is typically budgeted at roughly USD 3–14 million installed depending on country, battery limits and automation depth, and a 30 t/h plant from roughly USD 9–20 million upward. Extruded aquafeed and pet food lines are higher because of drying, coating and packaging scope. Country pages below narrow those bands. All figures are planning ranges, not quotations.
How do you calculate feed mill capacity?
Divide the required annual or daily tonnage by the hours you will genuinely operate, then add an allowance for downtime, changeovers and cleaning. A plant asked for 200 tonnes per day over 16 productive hours needs about 12.5 t/h nominal, and typically 14–15 t/h rated once realistic availability is applied. The capacity calculator does this with your own shift pattern and downtime assumption.
What is feed production cost per tonne?
Total feed cost is ingredients plus conversion cost. Ingredients normally represent 70–85 percent. Conversion cost — energy, labour, maintenance, wear parts, depreciation and overhead — commonly falls between USD 9 and USD 30 per tonne depending on country, capacity and utilisation. Utilisation is usually the single largest driver, because fixed cost per tonne falls sharply as the plant runs closer to its rated hours.
How much energy does a feed mill use?
Pelleted compound feed typically consumes roughly 22–45 kWh per tonne of electricity, with grinding and pelleting dominating, plus thermal energy for conditioning steam. Extrusion lines run far higher, commonly 70–170 kWh per tonne, because of the extruder and dryer. Always ask suppliers for guaranteed figures by section at a defined formula and moisture rather than a plant average.
How do I compare feed mill suppliers?
Fix identical battery limits, then require guaranteed tonnes per hour, guaranteed kWh per tonne, pellet durability with stated test conditions, a priced two-year wear-part list and documented service response times. Compare installed cost plus energy, wear parts, maintenance and downtime over five and ten years. Over that horizon operating cost frequently exceeds the original equipment cost, which is why capex-only comparisons mislead.