Belarus Feed Mill Procures Ring Die Pellet Mill for Broiler Feed: How Mature Hole-Making Technology Ensures Consistent Pellet Quality

Executive Summary

Belarus is a regional leader in poultry production. According to the National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus, the country maintained 54.5 million heads of poultry as of January 2026, with poultry accounting for 41.6% of total meat sales — up from 40.5% in 2024. Of the nation’s 38 agricultural organizations engaged in poultry farming, 20 specialize in broiler production, collectively generating 693,000 tonnes of poultry meat annually.

This article documents the procurement journey of a commercial broiler feed mill in Belarus that sought to upgrade its pelleting line with a ring die pellet mill. The case examines how the mill evaluated ring die hole-making technology, assessed supplier manufacturing maturity, and ultimately achieved consistent broiler feed pellet quality through a partnership with Liyang Hongyang Feed Machinery Co., Ltd.

1. The Belarusian Poultry Feed Landscape: Why Ring Die Quality Matters

Belarus’s poultry sector operates at industrial scale. President Alexander Lukashenko, speaking at a national poultry industry development conference in Soligorsk in late 2024, noted that the country’s poultry meat production already exceeds domestic demand by nearly 60%, with broiler meat sales achieving an 8.5% profit margin. This surplus positions Belarus as a net exporter within the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), but it also means feed mills face constant pressure to maintain cost-competitive production.

Feed represents 50–60% of broiler production costs. For a mill producing 100,000 tonnes of broiler feed annually, even a 1% improvement in pellet durability — reducing fines and feed wastage — can translate to six-figure savings in raw material costs over a production year.

The ring die is the heart of this equation. It is the consumable component that determines pellet density, durability, throughput, and energy consumption. A poorly manufactured ring die with inconsistent hole diameters, rough internal surfaces, or uneven hardness distribution will produce pellets that crumble during transport, generate excess fines, and force the pellet mill motor to work harder — all of which erode profitability.

For the Belarusian mill profiled here, the decision to invest in a high-precision ring die pellet mill was driven by three operational realities:

1. The existing pelleting line, installed over a decade ago, was producing PDI values of 86–89% on broiler formulations — below the 92% threshold the mill’s integrated broiler operations required.
2. Die change frequency had increased from every 800–1,000 operating hours to every 500–600 hours, indicating accelerated wear from suboptimal material and hole surface finish.
3. Energy consumption had crept up to 48 kWh/t, driven by increased frictional resistance in worn dies.

2. The Procurement Process: Evaluating Ring Die Manufacturing Maturity

The mill’s management team, comprising the production director, chief engineer, and procurement manager, established a structured evaluation framework before approaching suppliers.

2.1 Technical Evaluation Criteria

The team defined five categories for supplier assessment:

| Category | Weight | Key Indicators |
|—|—|—|
| Hole-making technology | 30% | Drilling method, surface finish consistency, hole straightness |
| Material and heat treatment | 25% | Steel grade, hardness uniformity, vacuum quenching capability |
| Customization capability | 20% | Compression ratio design, hole pattern optimization for local raw materials |
| Certification and documentation | 15% | EAEU compliance, material test reports, hardness maps |
| After-sales support | 10% | Engineer dispatch, spare parts availability, remote technical support |

2.2 The Hole-Making Technology Question

The single most important technical question the mill asked every supplier was: “How do you drill the holes?”

This is not a trivial question. A ring die for a medium-to-large pellet mill contains 3,000–5,000 individual holes, each drilled through a steel ring 80–140 mm thick. The quality of these holes — their diameter consistency, straightness, and internal surface finish — directly determines pellet quality.

Suppliers using conventional twist-drill methods on manual or semi-automated equipment typically produce holes with surface roughness (Ra) in the range of 3.2–6.3 µm. By contrast, manufacturers employing CNC deep-hole drilling with high-pressure coolant delivery — using BTA (Boring and Trepanning Association) or gun-drilling tooling — can achieve Ra values below 1.6 µm, with hole diameter tolerances within ±0.05 mm.

The Belarusian mill’s evaluation team visited two potential suppliers and reviewed technical documentation from three others. The critical differentiator was visible under magnification: CNC-drilled holes exhibited uniform, circumferential tool marks consistent with guided single-point cutting; conventionally drilled holes showed irregular, torn surfaces indicative of chip packing and drill wander.

2.3 Selecting Hongyang Feed Machinery

After a four-month evaluation process, the mill selected Liyang Hongyang Feed Machinery Co., Ltd. as its ring die pellet mill supplier. The decision rested on three findings:

- Hongyang’s use of CNC deep-hole drilling machines with high-pressure coolant delivery, producing hole surface finishes measurably smoother than competing suppliers at a comparable price point.
- The company’s willingness to provide detailed material certifications (steel mill test reports) and hardness distribution maps for each ring die — documentation that the mill’s quality assurance team could cross-reference against EAEU technical regulation TR CU 010/2011.
- A responsive pre-sales engineering process: within two weeks of receiving the mill’s raw material profile (local wheat and barley blended with imported soybean meal, typical moisture 13–15%), Hongyang’s technical team recommended a compression ratio of 1:9 for the broiler starter formulation and 1:10 for the finisher, substantiated by reference data from comparable installations.

3. Equipment Configuration and Installation

The mill ordered a complete pelleting section built around one SZLH420 ring die pellet mill (110 kW main motor, gear-driven). The order included:

- Two stainless-steel ring dies (X46Cr13 / 4Cr13 grade): one with 3.0 mm hole diameter and 1:9 compression ratio for broiler starter feed, and one with 3.5 mm holes and 1:10 compression ratio for broiler finisher feed.
- One spare set of rollers with sealed bearings.
- A double-layer conditioner with 150–180 seconds retention time, designed to achieve starch gelatinization above 30% at 10 t/h throughput.
- A counter-flow cooler (SKLN6 model) and rotary grading screener.

Equipment was shipped via the China–Europe Railway Express to Minsk, with anti-corrosion packaging and shock-proof crating specified for the 7,500 km rail journey. Installation was completed in five weeks by a joint team of Hongyang engineers and the mill’s maintenance staff, with commissioning conducted in February 2025.

Commissioning data met design specifications on the first production run:

- Throughput: 10.3 t/h at 92% motor load (rated: 10–12 t/h)
- Conditioner discharge temperature: 86–89 °C
- Pellet Durability Index (PDI): 95.4% on broiler starter formulation
- Specific energy consumption: 41.8 kWh/t

4. Operational Results: Six Months of Production Data

After six months of continuous production (March–August 2025), the mill’s quality control records showed:

| Parameter | Legacy Line (Pre-Upgrade) | New Hongyang Line | Improvement |
|—|—|—|—|
| Average PDI (broiler starter) | 87.5% | 95.8% | +8.3 pp |
| Average PDI (broiler finisher) | 88.2% | 96.1% | +7.9 pp |
| Specific energy (kWh/t) | 48.2 | 41.6 | -13.7% |
| Die service life (hours) | 550–620 | 950+ (ongoing) | +55%+ |
| Fines return rate (% of throughput) | 8.1% | 3.2% | -60.5% |
| Pellet forming rate | 90.3% | ≥96% | +5.7 pp |

The reduction in fines return rate alone — from 8.1% to 3.2% — meant that for every 100 tonnes of mash processed, the mill recovered nearly 5 additional tonnes of saleable pellets rather than recycling them back to the conditioner. At an average broiler feed selling price and an annual production volume of approximately 60,000 tonnes of broiler feed, this improvement represented a significant contribution to the mill’s operating margin.

4.1 Feed Quality Impact on Broiler Performance

The mill’s integrated broiler operation reported measurable downstream effects:

- Feed conversion ratio (FCR) improved from 1.72 to 1.66 over six grow-out cycles, a reduction the nutritionist attributed partly to reduced pellet fragmentation and partly to ongoing formulation refinements.
- Bird uniformity at slaughter weight increased, with the coefficient of variation in body weight decreasing from 10.5% to 8.3%, consistent with more consistent feed intake.
- Feed wastage at pan feeders was visibly reduced; site observations recorded approximately 30% less feed scattering compared to the pre-upgrade period.

5. What “Mature Hole-Making Technology” Means in Practice

The Belarusian mill’s experience illustrates what mature ring die manufacturing looks like in operational terms, beyond the technical specifications on a data sheet.

5.1 Consistency Across Dies

When the mill ordered its first replacement ring die in August 2025, the quality control team compared the new die against the original commissioning die using identical broiler starter formulation and machine settings. The PDI difference between the two dies was 0.3 percentage points — within measurement uncertainty — confirming that Hongyang’s manufacturing process was repeatable at production scale.

5.2 Predictable Wear Patterns

The original commissioning die, after 950+ operating hours, exhibited uniform wear across all hole diameters, with maximum diameter increase measured at 0.12 mm in the center band and 0.09 mm at the edges. This uniformity — a direct result of consistent material hardness achieved through vacuum quenching — meant the die could be used for a full production campaign rather than being changed prematurely due to localized wear.

5.3 Documentation You Can Rely On

For each die delivered, Hongyang provided:

- A material certificate from the steel mill confirming X46Cr13 grade and chemical composition.
- A hardness distribution map showing Rockwell hardness (HRC) measurements at 12 points across the die face. The mill’s own verification testing confirmed readings within ±1 HRC of the supplier’s reported values.
- Dimensional inspection reports for hole diameter, pitch, and counterbore geometry.

This documentation package was not merely a formality. It enabled the mill’s quality assurance team to demonstrate compliance with EAEU technical regulations during a scheduled audit by the Belarusian State Committee for Standardization in June 2025.

6. The Supplier Perspective: Hongyang’s Approach to EAEU Markets

From the supplier side, Hongyang Feed Machinery’s engagement with the Belarusian market reflects a broader approach to serving EAEU clients. The company, established in 2006 in Liyang, Jiangsu Province — China’s recognized hub for feed machinery manufacturing — has exported equipment to over 15 countries, including Russia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt, and Senegal.

For EAEU markets specifically, Hongyang has developed:

- A technical documentation package aligned with TR CU 010/2011 (safety of machinery) and TR CU 004/2011 (safety of low-voltage equipment).
- Experience with GOST-B certification support, including draft EAC declarations and technical passports in Russian or English.
- Logistics capability for China–Europe Railway Express shipments, with equipment prepared for the temperature extremes and handling conditions of transcontinental rail transport.
- An after-sales model that combines on-site engineer dispatch (typically within 15 working days for EAEU destinations) with remote support via video call and instant messaging.

For the Belarusian mill, this meant that when a minor steam pressure fluctuation issue arose during the third month of operation, Hongyang’s technical team identified the root cause — a condensate trap downstream of the conditioner that was undersized for the mill’s steam header — within one hour of receiving the mill’s WhatsApp message and steam pressure log.

7. Conclusion

The Belarusian broiler feed mill’s procurement experience demonstrates that ring die hole-making technology is not an abstract manufacturing detail — it is the single most important determinant of pellet quality, energy efficiency, and die service life in commercial feed production.

Three factors contributed to the successful outcome:

- A technically rigorous supplier evaluation process that prioritized measurable manufacturing quality — hole surface finish, hardness uniformity, and documentation — over marketing claims.
- A supplier, Hongyang Feed Machinery, whose investment in CNC deep-hole drilling, vacuum heat treatment, and application-specific die design translated into consistent, repeatable quality at production scale.
- A commissioning process that treated the equipment as an integrated pelleting system rather than a collection of individual machines, with conditioner retention time and die specification matched to the mill’s specific raw material profile.

For feed mills in Belarus and the broader EAEU region, the lesson is clear: when evaluating a ring die pellet mill, ask to see the holes. Ask how they were drilled, how their quality is verified, and whether the supplier can deliver the same quality on the tenth die as on the first. The answers will tell you more about pellet quality than any brochure ever could.

References

1. National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus. “Number of livestock and poultry and animal husbandry production in farms of all types in 2025.” Belstat, 2026.
2. Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Belarus. Livestock production forecast for 2024. Reported by BELTA, February 2024.
3. President of the Republic of Belarus. National poultry industry development conference, Soligorsk, October 2024. Reported by BelTA.
4. EAEU Technical Regulations: TR CU 010/2011 (safety of machinery), TR CU 004/2011 (safety of low-voltage equipment).
5. Liyang Hongyang Feed Machinery Co., Ltd. Product technical documentation and ring die quality control specifications.
6. Amerah, A.M., et al. “Feed particle size: Implications on digestion and performance of poultry.” World’s Poultry Science Journal, 63(3), 2007.
7. Thomas, M., et al. “Physical quality of pelleted animal feed.” Animal Feed Science and Technology, 70(3), 1998.