Pork price increased to 150,000 VND/kg, the Director of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine still affirmed that the whole country still has 30 million pigs?

The scarcity of pork supply has pushed up the price of live pigs. At the markets, the price of pork has also increased, many pork traders are "distorted" because of limited customers. Meanwhile, the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine confirmed that by February 2025, the total pig herd in the country will still reach over 30 million, a growth of 3.7%.

Pork prices are at their peak

For nearly a month now, the price of live pigs has been increasing continuously, peaking at 83,000 VND/kg in Dong Nai. In the North, the price of live pigs has also peaked at 78,000 VND/kg.

The high price of live pigs has pushed up the price of pork and pork loin at the markets. According to Dan Viet, on March 26, at the market in Hoang Liet ward, Hoang Mai district (Hanoi), the price of lean shoulder and belly meat fluctuated around 130 - 150 thousand VND/kg, the price of pork butt was around 110 - 120 thousand VND/kg...

This is still a fairly high market pork price, an increase of 20 - 30 thousand VND/kg compared to the previous time.

Standing in front of the pork stall, Ms. Hoang Phuong Trang (Hoang Liet, Hanoi) hesitated because recently, pork prices have skyrocketed, all types of meat fluctuate above 110,000 VND/kg.

Before, when going to the market, she often bought 1-2kg of various types of meat to store in the refrigerator for a few days, but now she has had to reduce it to only about 5-7 ounces and buy other foods such as eggs, chicken... to replace it.

"With an office salary of just over 10 million a month, while the cost of children is already a large amount, now that the price of pork has skyrocketed, housewives like us have to weigh and measure every little bit to balance family expenses," said Ms. Trang.

At a market in Hoang Liet ward, Hoang Mai (Hanoi), a trader said that even though it was almost noon, there were still very few customers buying meat. Photo: Minh Ngoc

In Cau Giay district, the pork stall of Ms. Nguyen Thi Binh Hong - a trader at Nam Trung Yen temporary market - has been open since early morning but is still full by noon. "Consumers now only buy a few ounces, because the price of pork is too high, they switch to eating chicken, fish, beans..." Ms. Hong said.

Before Tet, Ms. Hong sold over 100 kg of pork per day, but now purchasing power has decreased, so she can only sell over 50 kg.

Yesterday, Ms. Hong bought a pig with a jaw at the slaughterhouse for 104,000 VND/kg. The highest retail price is pork belly at 150,000 VND/kg, crispy shoulder at 130,000 VND/kg, rump or shoulder at 120,000 VND/kg, ham at 130,000 VND/kg...

But by the end of the session, the price was "reduced", pork belly was also 130 thousand VND/kg, bone and small bone were only 80 thousand VND/kg but there were still no buyers.

According to Ms. Hong, pork is over 70 thousand VND/kg, and buying hooks is 100-105 thousand VND/kg, so the selling price must be increased.

Before Tet, butt and shoulder were only 100-110 thousand VND/kg, now it has increased to 120-130 thousand VND/kg, people say it is too expensive and they do not eat it. "If meat is cheap, customers still eat a lot, if meat increases a little, people do not eat it, there is not a day when I go to the market without having to bring meat home. It is very boring", Ms. Hong told Dan Viet at noon on March 26.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Binh Hong - a vendor at Nam Trung Yen temporary market, set up shop early in the morning but by noon it was still full. Photo: Minh Ngoc

Speaking to Dan Viet about the reason for the recent high price of live pigs, Mr. Nguyen The Chinh - Head of the management board of the Ha Nam livestock and poultry wholesale market said that the total pig herd in the country has decreased sharply due to the impact of foot and mouth disease and African swine fever at the end of 2024 and due to the large supply of pork to the market during Tet.

According to Mr. Chinh, the epidemic in the southern provinces has caused the pig herd to decrease sharply, the pork supply is lacking, so many traders in the North have collected pigs to transport to the South for consumption. If at this time last year, every day there were about 1,000 trucks bringing pigs to the Ha Nam livestock and poultry wholesale market for consumption, now this number has decreased sharply to only about 500 trucks.

As the province that regularly maintains the largest pig herd in the country, Dong Nai is now almost "empty". Informing Dan Viet, Mr. Nguyen Kim Doan - Vice President of Dong Nai Livestock Association said that from the peak of 2.5 million pigs, recently, this southeastern province has dropped to 800,000 pigs.

Mr. Doan also confirmed that it is true that traders in the North are transporting pigs to the South for consumption because the supply in the South is not meeting the demand.

According to Mr. Doan, the main reason for the sharp decrease in the total pig herd in Dong Nai province is due to the strong outbreak of disease again. In addition, the Law on Animal Husbandry will take effect from January 1, 2025, and regulations on animal husbandry conditions will be "tightened".

Mr. Hoang Trung Hai, Ngoc Lu commune, Binh Luc district (Ha Nam) bought 90 pigs at 79,000 VND/kg to raise "surfing", but after 1 month, the price of pigs dropped to 74,000 VND/kg. Photo: Minh Ngoc

The Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine still affirms that there are still 30 million pigs in the barn?

Although farmers, traders, retailers and the Dong Nai Livestock Association all confirmed that the pork supply is in short supply, this seems paradoxical when answering Dan Viet, Mr. Duong Tat Thang - Director of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine (Ministry of Agriculture and Environment) said that as of February 2025, the total pig herd in the country is over 30 million, an increase of 3.7%.

The report on the results of the first quarter of 2025 and the key plan for the second quarter of 2025 of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine said that the price of pork increased in a contrary manner compared to previous years. This is the highest price increase in the past 3 years.

Currently, the average pork price in the North ranges from 74 - 75 thousand VND/kg, in the Central region from 75 - 80 thousand VND/kg, and in the South from 80 - 81 thousand VND/kg and is forecasted to stay around this price until the end of March 2025.

The reason for the increase in pork prices was explained by the Department as being due to the outbreak of disease in some southern provinces in the last months of 2024, causing damage to sow herds. The southeastern provinces have tightened environmental management, conducted a comprehensive review and planned to relocate large farms and contract farms out of areas where breeding is not allowed according to regulations, leading to many commercial farms and contract farms leaving their barns empty or not being put into operation at full capacity, resulting in local shortages as they are now.

Another important reason is the positive impact of the review results on tightening imports of pigs and pork products.

In the coming time, the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine will have solutions to stabilize pig farming, control the market, limit the impact of fluctuations in pork prices on CPI increases and sustainably develop the livestock and veterinary industry.

The high price of pork not only affects consumers, but also does not benefit farmers when the current price of piglets is quite high, making it difficult for them to restore their herds. Many pig breeding companies are now having to increase the price of commercial piglets sold and only sell in limited quantities. The main reason is said to be that the epidemic situation is still complicated. However, it is unclear where the leaders of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine get the data when they continuously affirm that the supply of pigs has not decreased but the herd has increased? This is truly an abnormality, it is necessary to find the root cause to solve it, which is: Doing a good job of disease prevention, having reasonable solutions to support herd restoration, not just focusing on statistics.

In particular, the increase in pork prices will affect the consumer price index (CPI) in the first quarter. If no measures are taken soon, pork prices may continue to increase in the coming time.

Source: https://danviet.vn/gia-thit-lon-tang-len-150000-dong-kg-cuc-truong-chan-nuoi-va-thu-y-van-khang-dinh-ca-nuoc-dang-con-30-trieu-con-lon-20250326115538417.htm