Nguyen Cong Bac, owner of a farm with 10,000 pigs in Son La, on August 2 told VietNamNet that live hog prices went up for several days before falling again. 

“The average price at this moment is just VND62,000-63,000 per kilogram,” Bac said.

The farmer said animal feed prices have been escalating since late 2020. The prices have increased six times so far this year. The increases have worried farmers, as feed accounts for 65-70 percent of production costs. 

The sharp animal feed price (since late 2020, the prices have been lifted 17 times) has pushed live hog prices to VND60,000 per kilogram. However, Bac stressed that VND60,000 per kilogram is the production cost at his farm and he is self-sufficient in breeders. The costs will be higher, at VND63,000-65,000 per kilogram, for small farms.

As production costs increased, Bac took a loss in April and May, when the live hog price was a little over VND50,000. In June, when prices moved up slightly, he broke even and in early July, he began making a profit.

However, prices stood at a high enough level to allow him make a profit for only 10 days, before they fell again.

“With current prices, we are either breaking even or taking a loss with farming,” he said.

The low pig prices over the last two years have affected many farmers. To build a pig farm with tens of thousands of pigs, he has to borrow VND45 billion from banks and pay interest of VND200 million. 

Bac said he has fallen into dilemma. It is difficult to downsize the herd of pigs, but he could incur bigger losses if he raises more pigs. 

While farmers complain that live hog prices are too low and cannot bring profits, consumers still buy pork at high prices.

Nguyen Kim Doan, deputy chair of the Dong Nai Livestock Association, confirmed that after rising to VND72,000-73,000 per kilogram in July 23-24, prices have decreased again to VND62,000-63,000.

Analysts point out that merchants are the only party which can make a profit. Some days ago, they raised pork retail prices, citing petrol price increases, but now, when petrol prices have decreased four times of adjustments, they still keep the prices at high levels.

At big wholesale markets, first-class live hog prices are just VND83,000 per kilogram, while the lowest retail price in the market is VND110,000 kilogram, and the average price is VND130,000-150,000 per kilogram.

Tam An