Habiganj Agro, a sister concern of Pran-RFL Group, has taken an initiative to strengthen its foothold in the Tk 15,000 crore market for aquatic and livestock feed.

Pran-RFL Group, one of the biggest business houses of the country, recently signed a deal with listed National Feed Mill to produce fish, cattle and poultry feed at its factory.

Under the agreement, Habiganj Agro will produce about 24,000 tonnes of feed annually using the mill, the latter said in a post on the Dhaka Stock Exchange website yesterday.

"The tenure of the manufacturing agreement is of two years," it added.

Stocks of the aquatic and livestock feed producer dropped yesterday as the announcement did not bring cheer to investors.

Pran said it entered into an agreement with the mill to cater to the burgeoning domestic market for feed.

"We have been doing test marketing of feed for the last two years based on agreements with several other firms as we do not have our own facility yet. We want to expand," said Chowdhury Kamruzzaman, director of marketing of the conglomerate.

"It is a big market," he added, citing that the market's annual turnover is around Tk 15,000 crore thanks to Bangladesh's gigantic poultry industry, expanding aquaculture, dairy and cattle farming.

Industry operators estimate that, including use by farmers and the unorganised sector, total yearly demand for feed is between 60-80 lakh tonnes and it continues to grow.

Kamruzzaman also said the conglomerate would use its own raw materials, do processing and ensure quality on its own in the mill's plant by paying a processing fee for using the facility.