Ajinomoto Co. Inc. announced Aug. 3 that it has reached an accord with Meihua Holdings Group Co. Ltd., a major Chinese manufacturer of amino acid-related products, to subcontract the manufacture of feed-use lysine and feed-use threonine through Ajinomoto Animal Nutrition Group Inc. (AANG), a consolidated subsidiary of Ajinomoto Co., and entered into an agreement immediately.

Under the agreement, AANG plans to sell both products manufactured by Meihua in the global market under the Ajinomoto brand from fiscal 2018.

Meihua is the second company to act as AANG's manufacturing subcontractor for feed-use amino acids, and with the execution of the agreement, Ajinomoto will rebuild its global supply system for feed-use amino acids, which are the foundation of its animal nutrition business, the announcement said.

As overall global consumption of meat continues to grow, demand for feed production and feed-use amino acids is expected to remain firm. Under these conditions, AANG said it intends to meet the diversifying needs of the market and its customers by offering a stable supply of feed-use amino acids in the global market and will improve its ability to provide solutions from the customers' perspective.

Under the fiscal 2017-19 medium-term management plan, Ajinomoto is working to strengthen its business portfolio by establishing specialties in its AminoScience business and is accelerating its shift to specialty in the animal nutrition business by conducting structural reforms that include the utilization of external resources.

This agreement is a sound step forward in preparing for these objectives, Ajinomoto said.

As a leading global amino acids company, the Ajinomoto Group will contribute to the sustainability of food resources through the expansion of its animal nutrition business based on its proprietary technologies and customer network in the global market.