Broiler Feed Mill CAPEX: What a Modern 20–40 t/h Pellet Line Really Costs

Broiler integrators asking 'what does a feed mill cost?' rarely get a straight answer, because there isn't one. A 20 t/h mash-and-pellet line in a mature European market is a very different project from a 40 t/h line in West Africa or Central Asia. But there are honest CAPEX ranges — and a disciplined way to think about them — that every buyer should understand before their first supplier call.

For a modern 20–40 t/h broiler feed mill, process equipment (grinding, mixing, pelleting, cooling, batching) typically represents 35–45% of total CAPEX. Grain intake, storage silos and conveying add another 15–25%. Automation and MCC/PLC controls 5–10%. Civil works, steel structure and buildings 15–25%. Freight, taxes, installation, commissioning and spares round out the balance. Buyers who see quotations skewed heavily to one bucket should ask why.

The variables that move CAPEX most are, in order: total silo storage days, level of automation, pellet quality target (die specification and conditioning), redundancy of critical equipment, and country-specific civil and logistics costs. A buyer targeting hard pellets for long-distance distribution will spend more on conditioning and cooling than one producing crumbles for on-farm use.

FeedMatch benchmarks broiler feed mill projects against real, recent references in comparable capacity bands and geographies. This lets buyers pressure-test supplier CAPEX numbers before award, and gives lenders and boards the comfort of a market-anchored number rather than a single-vendor estimate.