The report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shows that in the first half of this year, livestock and poultry farming developed relatively stably. The total pig herd is estimated to increase by 2.9%; fresh meat output is 2.54 million tons, up 5.1% over the same period last year. The poultry herd increased by 2.3%; fresh meat output is 1.21 million tons, up 4.9% and poultry eggs are nearly 10.1 billion, up 5.1%...

The increase in herd size also means that businesses in our country have to import more raw materials to produce more animal feed. Because domestic raw materials are not enough for production, our country's livestock industry has to rely largely on imported goods.

Preliminary statistics from the General Department of Customs show that as of mid-July 2025, Vietnamese enterprises have spent about 1.97 billion USD to import 6.62 million tons of corn and soybeans. These are two types of raw materials used in the production of animal feed.

Specifically, the amount of corn imported into our country reached 5.45 million tons, with an estimated value of about 1.36 billion USD. Compared to the same period last year, corn imports increased sharply by 40.2% but the value only increased slightly by 5.4%.

Similarly, soybean imports into our country were 1.17 million tons, a slight increase of 3.5% over the same period last year; the value was about 614 million USD, a sharp decrease of 16.5%.

The leader of an animal feed manufacturing enterprise in our country said that the cost of animal feed accounts for nearly 70% of the production cost. In recent years, the world market for animal feed ingredients has fluctuated in a skyrocketing direction, which has greatly affected our country's livestock industry.

Accordingly, the price of animal feed has increased continuously, reaching a historical peak and remaining at a high level, pushing up the production cost of livestock and poultry meat.

In recent months, the cooling of corn and soybean prices has created an opportunity for businesses to buy in large quantities. That is also the reason why imports of these grains, especially corn, have increased sharply.

Regarding corn, Vietnam is among the 30 largest corn growing countries in the world. However, our country is also among the top corn importing countries in the world, after China, Europe, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Egypt, etc.

Becoming the largest supplier, a type of Brazilian grain is flooding into Vietnam . Vietnam spent 16.7 billion USD to import agricultural and aquatic products in the first 5 months of 2023. Brazil became the largest agricultural product supplier, in which corn from this country flooded into Vietnam.