Pig farmers are taking heavy losses at the current live hog price. — Photo vnexpress.net

HCM CITY — Domestic live hog prices have fallen by 10 per cent compared to two weeks ago due to abundant supply while demand has decreased.

Current live hog prices across the country are from VNĐ47,000 to VNĐ57,000 (US$2-2.5) per kilo.

In the North, live hog prices are currently around VNĐ48,000-VNĐ49,000 per kilo, while Bắc Giang and Lào Cai provinces have the lowest prices.

Similarly, in the central region and Central Highlands, the price of pigs in Nghệ An decreased by VNĐ2,000 to VNĐ47,000 per kilo. Lâm Đồng and Bình Thuận provinces saw prices maintain at VNĐ52,000 per kilo.

Meanwhile, the price of live hog in the South decreased by VNĐ3,000-VNĐ4,000 compared to two weeks ago from VNĐ50,000-VNĐ51,000 per kilo. In particular, the price of pigs at C.P Việt Nam Livestock Company is currently VNĐ53,500-VNĐ57,000 per kilo.

In some localities, the price of live hog is around VNĐ50,000-55,000 per kilo. The prices have fallen by VNĐ2,000-3,000 per kilo compared to the end of December 2022 and VNĐ9,000-14,000 per kilo compared to mid-October 2022.

With the current price, pig farmers are taking heavy losses. Currently, the cost to raise a pig is VNĐ60,000 per kilo. Thus, when selling at VNĐ47,000 per kilo, the farmer loses VNĐ13,000 per kg of live hog.

With the current prices, farmers and small-scale farms do not dare to re-herd. In the long term, the farmers still have to follow the production chain, bringing production costs down.

The price of live pigs went down, so the retail price of pork at traditional markets and supermarkets have also decreased.

The current selling price of pork is only around VNĐ100,000-VNĐ120,000 per kilo, down VNĐ15,000-VNĐ20,000 per kilo.

Abundant supply is the main reason why pig prices have gone down recently. According to a report of Hóc Môn Wholesale Market, the supply of pigs to the market is high at more than 5,000 live hogs per day.

Nguyễn Trí Công, chairman of the Đồng Nai Livestock Association, said that live hog production in livestock enterprises is increasing rapidly. Meanwhile, consumption demand is falling sharply because many enterprises and factories have reduced their pork consumption by 20-30 per cent due to staff cuts. Even many factories had to suspend operations because there were no orders.

According to a market research report by Ipsos Company, in 2018, each Vietnamese person consumed an average of 31.4 kilos of pork, but by 2022, the consumption had decreased to 23.5 kilos. Meanwhile, last year, the total herd was over 31 million live hogs, an increase of 11 per cent compared to the same period in 2021. This further shows that supply is far exceeding demand.

"In the near future, consumption will decrease further as consumers tighten their spending due to the rising unemployment rate. In addition, consumers are tending to shift to more attractively priced foods such as chicken." VNS