Live hog price drops to VND48,000 per kilo
Live hog price drops to VND48,000 per kilo
Domestic live hog prices have fallen by 10 per cent compared to two weeks ago due to abundant supply while demand has decreased.
Current live hog prices across the country are from VND47,000 to VND57,000 (US$2-2.5) per kilo.
In the North, live hog prices are currently around VND48,000-VND49,000 per kilo, while Bac Giang and Lao Cai provinces have the lowest prices.
Similarly, in the central region and Central Highlands, the price of pigs in Nghe An decreased by VND2,000 to VND47,000 per kilo. Lam Dong and Binh Thuan provinces saw prices maintain at VND52,000 per kilo.
Meanwhile, the price of live hog in the South decreased by VND3,000-VND4,000 compared to two weeks ago from VND50,000-VND51,000 per kilo. In particular, the price of pigs at C.P Viet Nam Livestock Company is currently VND53,500-VND57,000 per kilo.
In some localities, the price of live hog is around VND50,000-55,000 per kilo. The prices have fallen by VND2,000-3,000 per kilo compared to the end of December 2022 and VND9,000-14,000 per kilo compared to mid-October 2022.
With the current price, pig farmers are taking heavy losses. Currently, the cost to raise a pig is VND60,000 per kilo. Thus, when selling at VND47,000 per kilo, the farmer loses VND13,000 per kg of live hog.
With the current prices, farmers and small-scale farms do not dare to re-herd. In the long term, the farmers still have to follow the production chain, bringing production costs down.
The price of live pigs went down, so the retail price of pork at traditional markets and supermarkets have also decreased.
The current selling price of pork is only around VND100,000-VND120,000 per kilo, down VND15,000-VND20,000 per kilo.
Abundant supply is the main reason why pig prices have gone down recently. According to a report of Hoc Mon Wholesale Market, the supply of pigs to the market is high at more than 5,000 live hogs per day.
Nguyen Tri Cong, chairman of the Dong Nai Livestock Association, said that live hog production in livestock enterprises is increasing rapidly. Meanwhile, consumption demand is falling sharply because many enterprises and factories have reduced their pork consumption by 20-30 per cent due to staff cuts. Even many factories had to suspend operations because there were no orders.
According to a market research report by Ipsos Company, in 2018, each Vietnamese person consumed an average of 31.4 kilos of pork, but by 2022, the consumption had decreased to 23.5 kilos. Meanwhile, last year, the total herd was over 31 million live hogs, an increase of 11 per cent compared to the same period in 2021. This further shows that supply is far exceeding demand.
"In the near future, consumption will decrease further as consumers tighten their spending due to the rising unemployment rate. In addition, consumers are tending to shift to more attractively priced foods such as chicken."
