Nghe An has a herd of 1 million pigs, there is no shortage of supply for the market.

Currently, the price of live pigs in the province has reached 100,000 VND/kg, causing the price of finished pork products to also reach 180,000 VND/kg, double the previous level. In the midst of the spiral of rising pork prices, according to the reporter's observations, at traditional markets, meat stalls are still selling as usual and the quantity of goods is still enough to meet the market demand, with no shortages.

Meat stalls at the markets still have abundant supplies, with no shortages. Photo: Quang An

When asked why pork prices have increased to such a record high, Ms. NTV, a pork trader at Vinh market, said: "Recently, the epidemic has occurred throughout the province, a large number of pigs have been destroyed, so there is not much disease-free pork with guaranteed quality left on the market, so the price increase is inevitable...".

This is also the answer of many pork traders in the province, however, according to the representative of the provincial Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, there is no such thing as a large shortage of pork supply in the market. The total herd of pigs in Nghe An province is up to 1 million, the number of pigs destroyed up to now is only 9.3% of the total herd. Therefore, the assertion of traders that pork is scarce due to large culls is unfounded.

Pigs at farms, ranches, and households in the province basically meet the market demand. Photo: Quang An

In fact, when walking around the markets, pork stalls are still abundant in supply, even many businesses are in a situation of "unsold goods" rather than "sold out". Small traders import a lot of pork but the sky-high prices cause a backlog of goods.

Explaining this issue, Mr. Dang Van Minh - Head of the Provincial Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine said: "The supply of pork is still sufficient for the market, however, consumers in the province do not clearly understand this issue, plus there is a sense of panic when information about rising pork prices spread rapidly on the internet. Grasping this mentality, livestock companies and pig buyers "take advantage" to push prices up, making the pork market complicated. This is the main reason for the recent escalation in pork prices".

The high price of pork has caused pork stalls to become unsold because it exceeds people's purchasing power. Photo: Quang An

Up to now, the supply of pork is still sufficient, but according to the forecast of the provincial Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, there will be a shortage of pork during the Lunar New Year because in the past, many localities with epidemics could not restore their herds while the demand at this time is very high.

Therefore, it is recommended that relevant agencies implement measures to ensure supply-demand balance, avoiding the situation of taking advantage of pushing prices up, especially from now until Lunar New Year.

In addition, under the condition that African swine fever has somewhat cooled down but has not been completely eradicated, the smuggling of sick pigs into the market at this time may occur. Therefore, localities need to strictly control the source of pigs entering and leaving the area to avoid a re-outbreak.