“The live pig prices have been hovering around VND48,000-49,000 per kilogram over the last two weeks. I took a loss of VND600,000-700,000 for every pig sold. The more I sold, the bigger loss I incurred,” said Hoang Van Chung, owner of a pig farm in Son Duong, Tuyen Quang.

Chung told VietNamNet that he had sold 50 pigs and incurred a loss of VND33 million. The pigs should have been sold in late November, but Chung did not sell at that time because the prices were too low. But he changed his mind a week later because he saw no sign of a price increase. 

According to Chung, losses have occurred since September. From the beginning of the year to now, farmers only sold pigs at prices higher than production costs in four months in mid-year. However, not many farmers had pigs to sell at that time.

“Despite the low prices, it is still difficult to sell pigs. Merchants just collect about 10 pigs each time they come,” he said. The current situation contrasts to the same period of previous years, when merchants rushed to buy pigs from farmers to prepare for the year-end sale season.

Chung said he still has 600 pigs on his farm with average weight of 80-90 kilograms per pig.

Nguyen Cong Bac, director of Loc Phat Livestock Company in Son La, said he has incurred a big loss, though he can produce breeders himself.

Bac keeps 10,000 pigs at his farm and sells about 2,000 pigs a month. In the last month, he sold pigs at just VND47,000 per kilogram and incurred a loss of VND400,000 for every pig sold, which meant a total loss of VND800 million.

Bac admitted that the animal feed price had decreased, which lowered production costs. However, with current live pig selling prices, farmers are incurring losses.

Do Xuan Huy, deputy general director of C.P Vietnam, said the current price is too low, just VND49,000 per kilogram, so not only farming households but large companies also are incurring losses.

CP Company belonging to Dabaco Vietnam reported revenue of VND2.709 trillion in the third quarter, a decrease of 24 percent from the same period last year. Its post-tax profit was modest, just VND12 billion, a sharp fall of 96 percent.

Meanwhile, BaF Vietnam reported revenue of VND1.219 trillion, down 36.5 percent, and post-tax profit of VND40 billion, down 74.6 percent.

Vissan’s revenue in the third quarter was VND823 billion, down 13 percent, and post-tax profit was VND25 billion, down 19.3 percent.

Analysts said live pig prices in the north are hovering around VND48,000-50,000 per kilogram, in the central region and Central Highlands VND47,000-50,000 per kilogram, and in the southern region VND47,000-52,000.

According to the Department of Animal Husbandry, after selling pigs, many farmers have left farms idle and are not continuing to raise pigs. 

As ASF (African Swine Fever) developments turned complicated, farmers rushed to sell pigs, thus leading to a supply abundance. This, plus weak demand, is the reason behind the sharp price falls.

In November 2023, the live pig prices decreased by 2.79 percent compared with previous months and by 5.34 percent compared with the same period last year.

A merchant at Hoc Mon wholesale market in HCM City said about 6,000 pigs are brought to the market daily, much higher than the 4,500 pigs per day in previous months.

Currently, there are 28.6-28.7 million pigs at farms in the country. The figure is high enough to satisfy demand from now to the end of the year and the Tet holiday in 2024.

Nguyen Kim Doan, deputy chair of the Dong Nai Livestock Association, said that pork prices may increase in the last days of the year, but just slightly because of weak demand.

Though domestic pork and chicken output is high, Vietnam spent $1.15 billion to import 572,110 tons of meat in the first 10 months of the year. This included 95,400 tons of pork worth  $239.37 million, an increase of 7 percent in quantity and 26.1 percent in value year on year.

Tam An