Active moves needed to reduce pig prices to help farmers make a profit

Positive moves needed to help farmers make a profit

Lao Dong's research shows that in the latest report "Livestock and Poultry: World Markets and Trade" (January 12), after recalculating the data at the end of 2023 and estimating for 2024, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said that world pork production in 2024 is expected to reach 114.2 million tons, down 0.9% compared to the total output in 2023 (115.2 million tons).

World pork production in 2024 is estimated 1% lower than the October forecast due to lower expected output in China, the European Union and Brazil.

USAD also forecasts: Vietnam's pork production is expected to increase by 5%, from 3.5 million tons in 2023 to 3.7 million tons this year, while imports are expected to increase by 4.7%. It is known that in 2023, Vietnam imported about 114,000 tons of pork (accounting for nearly 3% of total domestic pork consumption). The amount of pork imported in 2023 is equivalent to 2022, but the import of edible by-products from pigs in 2023 increased by 77%.

“Importing too much pork while the domestic pig farming industry is stable and the epidemic is being controlled more stably can cause a surplus of pork supply, pushing down the price of live pigs, causing difficulties for pig farmers. Therefore, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development needs to take action to balance the supply (domestic farming, imported frozen pork needs to calculate the amount of live pigs imported from Cambodia) to avoid an imbalance in supply and demand. Only then can we protect domestic pig farmers and stabilize the pig farming industry” – Mr. Vu Tuan Anh – Chairman of GLE Company shared.

According to Mr. Duong Minh Tam (Van Thanh - Yen Thanh - Nghe An), in order for livestock farmers to make a profit, in addition to controlling imported meat, it is necessary to control the price of animal feed, not allowing businesses producing bran to make huge profits, while livestock farmers are in trouble because the cost is higher than the selling price.

Pig price on January 19. Source: Anova Feed.

Many provinces in the Central and Southern regions have adjusted prices up after days of deep decline.

The price of live pigs in the Central and Southern regions increased by 1-2 prices, pushing the average price up by about 500 VND/kg. The difference in live pig prices across the country narrowed.

According to farm owners, on January 19, 2024, the price of live pigs in the Central and Southern provinces increased by 1,000-2,000 VND, bringing the average price of live pigs nationwide to 53,300 VND, instead of 52,800 VND the previous day.

In the livestock “capital” of Dong Nai and Lam Dong province, the price of live pigs has increased by 2 prices, selling at 54,000 VND/kg; Tra Vinh province also adjusted the price of live pigs by 2,000 VND/kg, selling at 52,000 VND/kg.

The provinces with a slight increase of 1,000 VND/kg include: Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue, Dak Lak, Binh Dinh, Ninh Thuan, Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Tay Ninh, Vinh Long, Can Tho, Hau Giang, Binh Phuoc, selling at prices from 51,000-55,000 VND/kg. Farm owners said that the increase in live pig prices in these provinces was due to adjustments according to the general market level, because when the live pig prices in the northern provinces increased, the prices in the central and southern regions remained the same.

“The price of live pigs in the Central and Southern regions increased at a slower pace than in the North because the supply of live pigs in this region is larger, and there are many smuggled pigs from Cambodia competing with domestic pigs. Now the import of live pigs into Vietnam has decreased, so the price has increased,” said a farm owner in Binh Phuoc (who asked not to be named).

Referring to Anova Feed's live pig prices, it shows that the live pig prices in the Northern provinces are the highest in the country, in which the highest live pig price is in Hanoi (58,000 VND/kg), the rest of the Northern provinces sell at 57,000 VND/kg.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh - Director of Thanh Do Company said: With this price, farmers have quite attractive profits.

"Pig farming businesses that buy feed from Thanh Do said that for each pig sold, they earn a profit of about 1.2-1.4 million VND" - Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh shared with Lao Dong.

Source