Local feed prices 20pct costlier than regional level

Vietnamese animal feed prices are now 20 percent higher than the same goods in other regional countries as the local feed industry depends too heavily on imported materials, said vice President Pham Duc Binh of the Vietnam Animal Feed Association.

Prices of several animal feed materials continued the uptrend in July. Soybean meal increased to VND15,603 per kilo in July, up 15.2 percent over the preceding month, while cassava and rice bran marked up a respective 6 percent and 10 percent to VND5,565 and VND6,720 a kilo.

Animal feed sales agents in Lai Thieu, Binh Duong said prices of mixed feeds still stayed at high. Specifically, feeds for over-60-kilo pigs are currently sold at VND9,260 per kilo, and chicken feeds are priced at VND10,525 a kilo.

Feed price increases further exhaust the local livestock industry, said Binh. Since the year’s beginning, the livestock industry has encountered many difficulties caused by low livestock product prices, sending many farming households to the verge of bankruptcy.

Vietnam’s animal feed producers depend much on imported materials. If this issue is not settled, the livestock industry will continue to run into similar problems, Binh stressed.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, animal feed imports are estimated at $250 million in July, taking the total import turnover of this item to $1.3 billion in seven months.

Although feed imports in the first seven months dropped 3.3 percent year-on-year, animal feeds and materials still have the highest import value among agro-aqua-forestry related products.

 

Category: Business