New Year, pork prices are gradually recovering

In Ngoc Lu commune, Binh Luc district, Ha Nam province, which is considered the largest pig farming "capital" in the North, the price of live pigs has been gradually increasing since the end of December 2017. Especially, in the first days of the new year 2018, the price of pigs here is increasing day by day.

At present, the price of pigs for slaughter is fluctuating between 33-38 thousand VND/kg.

Ms. Hien, a pig farm owner in Ngoc Lu, said that although pig prices are showing signs of recovery, the selling rate is limited because the scale of farming in this "capital" has decreased significantly since pig prices hit rock bottom in the middle of last year.

Many households in Ngoc Lu commune no longer have enough financial resources to continue raising livestock due to heavy losses during the "crisis" of pig prices last year. Animal feed dealers are also operating at a standstill because farmers are losing money and have difficulty recovering capital, Ms. Hien shared.

Mr. Dung, a large pig farmer in village 4, Ngoc Lu commune, said that with the current price, people have started to make a profit. Each pig weighing 100-120 kg makes a profit of about 300-400 thousand VND, if during the raising process the pig does not get sick or have an epidemic...

According to Thanh Nien newspaper, in Dong Nai, the locality with the largest pig herd in the country, pig farmers said the selling price was 30,000 - 31,000 VND/kg, an increase of 1,000 - 2,000 VND compared to 10 days ago. With this price, pig farmers are still losing about 3,000 - 4,000 VND/kg.

According to the report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the price of live pigs in the Central and Central Highlands is about 33,000 VND/kg, in the North 35,000 - 36,000 VND/kg, an average increase of 4,000 - 5,000 VND/kg. After many months of hitting rock bottom, the price of live pigs in the last months of 2017 showed signs of increasing again but still not enough for farmers to make a profit.

It is forecasted that by the Lunar New Year, pork prices will likely increase further as processing facilities are focusing on slaughtering to produce food to serve people's Tet needs.

Another reason for the gradual recovery of pork prices is that the current pork herd is 27.4 million, down 5.7% (as of the end of the third quarter of 2017) compared to the same period in 2016. The slow recovery of pork prices is due to the large number of over-aged pigs, so although the total herd has decreased, the output for slaughter is still high.

While prices at farms have just increased, pork prices in the market have increased by 10-15% in the past month. According to surveys at markets, supermarkets and stores, the common prices of some items: thighs 78,000-80,000 VND/kg, shoulders 72,000-75,000 VND/kg, fillets 112,000-120,000 VND/kg, ribs 65,000 VND/kg...

The total supply of pigs for meat in Vietnam is estimated to reach about 41 million in 2018, so the supply and demand for pork will be balanced, Ipsos Business Consulting (a global market research company) forecasted at the end of the third quarter of 2017.

This unit also warned that if Vietnam does not control the sow herd well, the increase in herd restoration when pig prices recover will soon lead to a market surplus crisis.

Sharing on Infonet when referring to the supply and prices of livestock products during the Lunar New Year, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Duong - Deputy Director of the Department of Livestock Production commented: In addition to the difficulties of pig farmers, this year's livestock products basically met the domestic consumption needs of the past year.

To escape the situation of prolonged losses, according to Mr. Duong, participating in the chain is one of the urgent issues that breeders need to do immediately.If we do not organize livestock farming in a chain, the crisis in the pig industry will continue to drag on. Currently, it is very difficult for us to control food hygiene and safety issues, and control supply and demand./.