Price of pork climbs despite government urging

The price of pork refuses to climb down Selling price of pork still flys on the sky

According to the latest report of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, live pigs are sold for VND80,000-90,000 ($3.50-3.90) per kilogramme while pork costs between VND145,000-165,000 ($6.30-7.20) per kilogramme.

Meanwhile, at the beginning of the month, prices were only VND73,000-78,000 ($3.20-3.40) per kilogramme for live pigs and VND130,000-150,000 ($5.65-6.50) per kilogramme for pork. These adjustments were made to comply with the government's requirements for livestock companies.

At a recent meeting, authorities offered two reasons behind prices rising again. The first one is the slow speed of re-populating herds. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the total pig population is similar to what it was in 2019. Accordingly, 900,000 tonnes of live pigs will be taken to the market in the second quarter of this year, and the figure will reach 1 million tonnes in the third quarter and 1.1 million tonnes in the fourth quarter. Thus, in the second quarter, supply will be able to meet the demand.

The second reason includes discrepancies in pricing. Notably, the expenditures for intermediate stages in the production chain are very high, making up 70-90 per cent of the price, while these expenses were VND23,000-28,000 ($1-1.20) per kilogramme before the African Swine Fever epidemic broke out.

Reacting to this discrepancy, the prime minister asked the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Public Security to implement solutions to stabilise prices.

The prime minister also required punishments to actors in the intermediate stages of the production chain if they engage in price manipulation.

In addition, the prime minister asked to increase pork imports to balance supply and demand in the market. Furthermore, the PM asked the MoIT to carefully study the proposal toadd pork to the list of goods subject to price stabilisation,to clarify the impact of this policy, and build an implementation scheme.