Pig price 'storm' sweeps: [Article 3] CP sells 'young pigs' to cool down the market

Farmers hope for price stability

Recently, the price of live pigs has skyrocketed, but many people in the pig farming capital of Dong Nai are still not happy, because most of the farmers have sold their pigs before Tet. Currently, there are very few pigs left in the barn.

Pig farm of CP Vietnam Livestock Joint Stock Company. Photo: Minh Sang.

Meeting us, Ms. Dang Thi Mai Anh, Head of the VietGAHP Pig Farming Cooperative, Xuan Truong Commune, Xuan Loc District (Dong Nai) shared: “My family is maintaining a herd of nearly 100 pigs, waiting for two more weeks to be eligible for sale. The sudden increase in the price of live pigs in recent days has made many people think that raising pigs is profitable, but in reality, it is not like that, because the continuous epidemic situation has caused a very high loss rate, and even if we compensate, we still do not make much profit.”

According to Ms. Mai Anh, when the price of live pigs increases, it will simultaneously cause many other "items" to increase, such as animal feed, veterinary medicine, etc. Even the price of piglets increases faster than the price of pork, but finding a source of piglets to buy is also very rare. Moreover, the disease situation this year is quite complicated, not seasonal, so the disease keeps recurring. Many households have had to hang up their piglets for the past few years.

“Every farmer wants to sell at a high price, but in my opinion, as long as the price is at 75,000 VND/kg of live pigs and the price is always stable, that is enough to be happy. If the price of pigs drops and there is an epidemic, farmers will suffer heavy losses, but if the price increases too much, it will be difficult to sell,” Ms. Mai Anh shared.

According to Ms. Mai Anh, after the outbreak of African swine fever, household farming faced many difficulties. Many small-scale farming households were forced to quit their jobs because of falling pig prices and difficulties in finding outlets for their products. However, members of the VietGAHP Pig Farming Cooperative in Xuan Truong Commune, Xuan Loc District were still able to keep their jobs and make profits thanks to participating in the chain, and their livestock products were purchased by businesses.

Members of the VietGAHP Pig Farming Cooperative in Xuan Truong Commune, Xuan Loc District (Dong Nai) are maintaining their pig herds during the "price fever" period. Photo: Nguyen Thuy.

Established in 2012, the Cooperative initially had 20 members. To join the cooperative, members must follow strict farming processes, fully meeting VietGAHP standards, ensuring disease safety. Most members have a farming scale of several dozen to several hundred animals per household. The group raises animals in chains and follows VietGAHP processes to supply the MM Mega Market supermarket system in the province.

Mr. Nguyen Ha Duc Kinh's family (Hung Nghia hamlet, Hung Loc commune, Thong Nhat district) previously pooled capital with 3 other households to raise pigs for processing for the CP Company with a total herd of about 3,000 pigs. His family has stopped raising pigs for over a year due to several outbreaks of African swine fever.

"Currently, the price of live pigs is high but cannot keep up with the price of piglets. Not all pig farmers have the conditions to increase or restore their herds at this time," said Mr. Kinh.

CP Vietnam reduces weight of pigs sold to curb price increase

According to the Dong Nai Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, the pig farming situation in the province is still recovering slowly. The pig farming households and herd size in the locality are still modest after the impact of African swine fever. The epidemic occurred 4-5 months ago, causing a shortage of piglets and commercial pigs at this time. This is also the reason why the price of commercial pigs has been pushed up.

Rebuilding and increasing herds is difficult due to high input costs, high disease risks, especially the scarcity of pig breeding sources. Photo: Minh Sang.

In addition, livestock regulations are increasingly tightened, so localities require farmers to maintain their herds while ensuring environmental hygiene and disease prevention. Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Mai, Deputy Head of the Department of Livestock and Veterinary Medicine of Dong Nai said: “The price of live pigs has increased, but in reality, not all farmers benefit, because there is currently no source of pigs to supply the market. Moreover, herd restoration and increase also cause difficulties for farmers due to high input costs, high disease risks, especially the scarce source of piglets”.

According to Ms. Mai, the price of piglets currently ranges from 2 million VND to 2.5 million VND per pig, but there are still no pigs to buy. After a period of high pig prices, peaking at 83,000 VND per kg, pig prices are now showing signs of "cooling down" nationwide due to the supply of imported pork. On the other hand, domestic purchasing power has not increased because consumers have switched to other types of food as a substitute.

Mr. Le Xuan Huy, Deputy General Director of CP Vietnam Livestock Joint Stock Company, said that normally, CP's pigs must be 29 weeks old or older, with a weight of about 100-115 kg/head, but in order to help control the price of live pigs from increasing suddenly, the company had to shorten the breeding time to 22 weeks old, and the weight of pigs sold was only 85-90 kg/head. However, CP's pigs only account for about 10-12% of Vietnam's total pig herd, so it cannot help "cool down" the market price fever.

“For us, the most feared thing is a sudden increase in pork prices, because consumers may switch to other foods. Once they get used to alternative foods, they don’t know if they will want to go back to eating pork. Moreover, a large amount of imported meat will also affect domestic livestock businesses. Therefore, CP only hopes that the price of live pigs will stabilize at 65,000 VND/kg, which is the most appropriate level,” Mr. Huy shared.

According to Mr. Huy, currently in the pig farming network for CP Vietnam, about 70,000 pigs (accounting for about 40% of the total herd) have been stopped from raising because they do not meet environmental conditions or are located in urban areas. Therefore, the company also has a plan to develop a new pig farming network to stabilize the supply for the market in the near future.

If farmers compete to restore and increase their herds at this time, it is easy to increase costs, especially with many risks of disease. Photo: Nguyen Thuy.

Dong Nai Livestock Association also stated that although the price of live pigs is very high, this is not a “golden opportunity” to rebuild and increase herds. If farmers compete to rebuild and increase herds at this time, it is easy to increase costs, especially with many risks of disease.

Mr. Tran Lam Sinh, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Dong Nai province, affirmed that in addition to the impact of the epidemic, the implementation of the policy of relocating livestock farms is also a part of the reason affecting the pork supply. However, the supply is only locally deficient, mainly from small-scale farmers, while livestock companies still ensure the supply of pork for the market in and outside the province.

According to Mr. Sinh, large livestock enterprises, although having pig breeding sources, also limit the release of pigs to focus on repopulating the internal chain. Only when there is surplus will companies release them.

According to the Dong Nai Livestock Association, there was a time when the market experienced a fever of live pigs, reaching over 100,000 VND/kg. Farmers rushed to invest, supply was greater than demand, so afterwards, the price of live pigs quickly dropped to about 40,000 VND/kg. Moreover, the risk of disease in the pig herd, especially African swine fever, still exists, so farmers should be careful when restocking and increasing herds during this time.

Source: https://nongnghiep.vn/bao-gia-lon-can-quet-bai-3-cp-ban-heo-non-de-ha-nhiet-thi-truong-d744314.html