Customers inspect meat products at a local supermarket. Minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong has issued a warning to large-scale firms on the continuing increase in pork and live pig prices

During his visit to Bac Giang Province to check farming and disease prevention efforts on December 22, the minister issued a warning to large-scale firms on the continuing increase in pork and live pig prices, the local media reported.

Cuong pointed out that some large firms have maintained a herd of over 100,000 live pigs and many sows.

As such, these firms should not only supply high-quality breeds and food to the local market, but they should also lead the pork market. They should not permit pork prices to skyrocket, or they will “make a rod for their own back,” Cuong said, explaining that domestic firms may be defeated on their home ground by the entry of cheap goods, including pork and alternatives for pork.

In addition, the firms are advised to comply with market rules, including balancing the prices of pork and live pigs, as they are considered the center of the pork market thanks to their breeding techniques, hygiene methods and sanitation performance standards.

Discussing the solutions to the pork shortage, Cuong remarked that it is necessary to scale up pig farming and raise the output for some alternatives to pork, such as poultry, beef and seafood.

Based on inspections of localities’ efforts to enhance farming for the ongoing Tet holiday, Minister Cuong stated that many provinces have strictly followed the Government’s directives and will see an abundance of meat available for residents during the weeks leading up to the Tet holiday as the output for poultry, seafood and livestock has risen by 15%, 6% and 4.5%, respectively.

After getting African swine fever under control, many farming households and firms have started to restore their pig herds, contributing to easing the shortage of pork at the end of the year, Cuong added.

Cuong also proposed the competent agencies strongly prevent Vietnamese pigs from being exported illegally to China to stabilize the supply of pork and rising prices.

Besides this, it is necessary to seek ways to eliminate some steps to shorten the period from production to consumption to reduce costs, he stressed. SGT

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