Nghe An: Pork prices drop, poor purchasing power
(Baonghean) - For nearly a month now, the price of live pigs has been continuously decreasing, causing the price of finished meat to also decrease by 20,000 - 30,000 VND/kg. However, despite the approaching Tet holiday, people's purchasing power for this product has not shown any signs of increasing.
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| Only 10 days left until Tet, although pork prices have decreased, the consumption of this item is still slow, decreasing sharply compared to previous years. Photo: Thanh Phuc |
Continuing the downward trend since the end of December 2019, the price of live pigs in the first days of January 2020 continued to cool down, decreasing by another 3,000 - 5,000 VND/kg. Currently, each kg of live pigs has decreased by an average of 10,000 - 12,000 VND compared to the time of the record increase, to 82,000 - 85,000 VND/kg. In some localities in the province, the price of live pigs has dropped below 80,000 VND/kg such as Anh Son, Thanh Chuong...
The price of live pigs has decreased, so the price of finished meat has also decreased. According to a survey at Quan Lau, Hung Dung, Ben Thuy, and Cua Bac markets (Vinh City), the price of spare ribs, pork belly, and loin is 150,000 VND/kg, down 10,000 - 15,000 VND/kg compared to a week ago, down 20,000 - 25,000 VND/kg compared to a month ago; lean shoulder and rump meat also decreased to 140,000 - 150,000 VND/kg.
In some markets in rural areas, pork prices range from 120,000 - 150,000 VND/kg (depending on the type), much lower than when pork prices reached a record high.
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| Pork sales are sluggish partly because prices are still high, and partly because consumers are switching to alternative foods. Currently, because the price difference between pork and beef, chicken, and pork is not high, many people are switching to other types of meat to prepare Tet dishes. Photo: Thanh Phuc |
Although meat prices have decreased, according to traders, people's purchasing power is not high and consumption has decreased compared to before.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Van Giang, owner of a pork stall at Quan Lau market (Vinh city) said: "This time should be the peak season for pork consumption because the demand for dishes for Tet such as deboned pig's feet, sausages, head sausages, bacon, pickled pig's ears... is very high. However, this year, the amount of pork consumed has decreased by 50 - 70% compared to the same period last year. Specifically, at this time last year, I sold about 150 kg of pork per day, but now I only sell about 30 - 35 kg per day." Supermarket representatives also said that pork consumption is quite slow even though it is near Tet.
The main reason for the decline in purchasing power is that although pork prices have decreased, they are still high compared to previous years, even double. Meanwhile, beef and chicken prices remain the same, so consumers are considering between choosing pork and alternative foods. Instead of making Tet dishes from pork, they make beef sausage, chicken sausage, beef jerky, chicken jerky, etc.
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| The lack of customers at drinking establishments when Decree 100 took effect was also the reason for the decline in pork consumption at the end of the year. Photo courtesy of Quang An |
In addition, the prolonged African swine fever epidemic, the increase in pork prices, and people's habit of limiting pork dishes in their daily meals have caused the demand for pork to decrease by about 30%, so choosing pork is no longer the top priority of people.
Ms. Nguyen Thuy Binh in Le Mao ward (Vinh city) said: "The price of pork is still high. Therefore, I choose beef to prepare Tet dishes, because the price of beef used to be double or triple that of pork, but now it is only 60,000 VND/kg different."
On the other hand, since Decree 100 on penalties for alcohol concentration, food and beverage businesses have been deserted and deserted, so the consumption of pork in particular and other foods in general has decreased sharply.
