Near Tet, pig price remains low, farmers suffer losses

Many households are re-raising large herds to supply the Tet market with the prediction that purchasing power will increase and prices will increase... Photo: Thanh Phuc

To serve the Lunar New Year market, from August 2022, Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuyet, Thanh Lam (Thanh Chuong) has entered the herd with 30 super lean pigs. If in previous years, Lunar New Year was the occasionreap the biggest profit of the year when pigs are easy to consume, prices increase, soBut this year, she only sold 13, the rest were sold at low prices.So I'm "hoarding" goods waiting for the price to go up.

“Last year, from the epidemic to natural disasters, livestock farming suffered losses. Everyone relied on selling pigs for Tet to make a profit and cover expenses. However, with the current price (ranging from 52,000 - 54,000 VND/kg), we still lost 400,000 - 500,000 VND/pig. Therefore, if the price of the remaining pigs does not increase in the next few days, we will sell them after Tet,” said Ms. Tuyet.

However, contrary to previous years, this year, near Tet, the price of live pigs remained low, causing farmers to suffer losses. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Raising pigs on a large scale, Ms. Vi Thi La's farm (Xieng village, Mon Son commune, Con Cuong) also invested in raising 300 pigs for sale on Tet holiday. "Normally, Tet is the peak time for selling pigs, all year round, this batch of pigs is the most profitable when the price increases. However, contrary to previous years, the price of live pigs this year is low and near Tet, this batch of pigs is lucky to only break even and not make a profit. Compared to 2021, the cost of raising pigs increased by 10-15% due to the increase in vaccine and feed prices, but the price of pigs for sale is low, only from 52,000 - 54,000 VND/kg," Ms. La said.

According to her, the reason her farm does not lose money is because of closed farming, proactively controlling breeding animals and food, signing contracts with factories, buying large quantities at preferential prices, thus reducing input costs.

Although traders still buy in large quantities, pork prices are low, ranging from 52,000-54,000 VND/kg. Photo: Thanh Phuc

The general trend every year is that the price of live pigs usually increases around Tet due to the high demand for processing food for the Tet holiday. However, this year, at the peak of Tet, the price of pigs has dropped, consumption is lower, while since the beginning of the year, the price of animal feed has increased by 40-50% while the cost of feed accounts for 65-70% of the production cost, pushing the cost of raising livestock up, exceeding 60,000 VND/kg. With the current price of live pigs, farmers can only try to cut losses, even sell off to recover capital, many people wait until close to Tet or after Tet in the hope that the price of pigs will increase.

According to analysis by experts in the livestock industry, the reason why pork prices are still low near Tet is because of economic difficulties, many businesses have reduced orders, had to reduce production, lay off workers... causing centralized kitchens and worker kitchens to reduce capacity, not to mention reduced income causing people to cut spending, thus the demand for pork has also decreased sharply.

Meanwhile, meat prices at markets remain high, ranging from 100,000-140,000 VND/kg. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Meanwhile, many large-scale FDI livestock companies have increased their herds significantly. And to stimulate demand, these businesses are forced to lower their selling prices, which affects the current price of live pigs.

Paradoxically, although the price of live pigs is low and farmers are losing money, the price of pork in traditional markets and supermarkets is still high and tends to increase slightly in the time before Tet. According to a survey, currently, the price of pork in traditional markets ranges from 100,000-140,000 VND/kg; in clean food stores, the price of meat exceeds 150,000 VND/kg. This shows that the cost of intermediaries still accounts for a large proportion of the price structure of pork, and consumers and farmers still have to "suffer".

Many farm owners said that if pig prices remain low in the next few days, they will wait until after Tet to sell their pigs in the hope that prices will increase. Photo: Thanh Phuc