Ministries discuss measures to deal with oversupply of pork

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) met with several ministries on April 28 to discuss measures to deal with an oversupply of pork, which has caused prices to plunge in recent months.

Vietnam’s pork output has now far exceeded domestic demand, causing prices to fall drastically.

MARD Minister, Nguyen Xuan Cuong, said Vietnam’s meat output, especially pork, has now far exceeded domestic demand, causing prices to fall drastically to VND28,000 (US$1.23) a kilogramme, meaning farmers are suffering losses of VND1.5 million (US$66) a pig.

He warned that if this situation continued, pig raisers, including large farms, would go bankrupt, and sectors such as animal feed, veterinary care, slaughtering and pork trading will suffer damaging consequences.

The minister informed that a number of feed manufacturers have cut prices of their products, while some farms stopped supplying more pork to give up the market to smallholders, while several food retailers increased purchases of pork for freezing.

At the meeting, Deputy PM Trinh Dinh Dung asked the MARD, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to step up negotiations so that Vietnam’s pork can be exported.

He also urged relevant ministries and local authorities to work with large consumers of meat such as industrial parks and armed forces to increase pork consumption.

Meanwhile, the State Bank of Vietnam was asked to instruct commercial banks to consider extending debt payment deadline and reduce interest rates on secured loans to help pig raisers tide over this crisis.

In addition to immediate measures, in the long term, the MARD should reorganise the animal husbandry sector, reduce the size of pig supplies and restrict the establishment of new feed production facilities, stated Deputy PM Dung.

(Source: NDO)