Due to a severe pork shortage, traders are scrambling to buy it at exorbitant prices.

Pork arriving at markets only meets 50% of demand, indicating a significant supply shortage. In some provinces and cities, traders are scrambling to buy live pigs at exorbitant prices.

According to information from the Department of Animal Husbandry (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), the pig herd is growing well. By the end of 2024, the total pig herd in Vietnam will have increased to 31 million head, ensuring sufficient supply.

In fact, pork supply remains insufficient, driving prices up.

Mr. Chinh, a representative of the Ha Nam Livestock and Poultry Wholesale Market Management Board, said on the morning of February 11th: "Today, the number of live pigs arriving at the market stopped at 400-500, only 1/5 of the usual number."

According to him, African swine fever and other diseases are rampant in farms, causing many pigs to die. Furthermore, some traders are actively buying up pigs from farms in the North to bring to the South for consumption. Therefore, the already scarce supply of live pigs to the market is becoming even smaller, driving up prices sharply, especially after the Lunar New Year.

From the 4th day of the Lunar New Year until now, Pork prices are on a sharp upward trend. Currently, live pig prices have surged to 70,000-73,000 VND/kg, even reaching 75,000 VND/kg at times; while before Tet (Lunar New Year) they were 67,000-68,000 VND/kg, Mr. Chinh told. VietNamNet.

The supply of live pigs to wholesale markets has decreased sharply, driving up pork prices. (Photo: Vissan)

According to data on Anova feed, the price of live pigs ready for slaughter on February 11th increased significantly, fluctuating between 68,000 and 72,000 VND/kg. In Dong Nai province alone, the price of live pigs reached a peak of 73,000 VND/kg – the highest price in the last three years.

“In the Southeast region, especially Dong Nai, traders are actively buying live pigs at prices ranging from 73,000 to 75,000 VND/kg,” shared Mr. Nguyen Kim Doan, Vice Chairman of the Dong Nai Livestock Association. According to him, the increase or decrease in pig prices is determined by supply and demand in the market. This time, prices have risen sharply due to a significant shortage in supply, despite relatively weak demand for pork at markets.

Leaders of the Dong Nai Livestock Association cited the example of Tan Xuan (Hoc Mon) and Binh Dien (District 8, Ho Chi Minh City) wholesale markets, which used to consume about 7,000 pigs daily, but now the number arriving at the markets has decreased by 50%, to about 3,000-3,500 pigs.

He noted that in November and December last year, the disease swept through, causing a large number of pig deaths. At the same time, provinces and cities tightened environmental regulations in livestock farming, forcing farms that did not meet the requirements to shut down.

These factors led to a shortage of pork supply even before the Lunar New Year. However, at that time, major distribution companies had to "keep prices down" to avoid impacting people's consumption during the holiday. Now, the increase in pork prices accurately reflects market supply and demand.

Some businesses with a very large market share in livestock farming are still quoting prices for live pigs weighing from 61kg in the Dong Nai area today. This shows that the disease situation is complicated, and there is a shortage of live pigs, so they have to "sell prematurely." Meanwhile, traders are having to gather pigs from the South Central provinces to bring to the South for consumption, he said.

According to Mr. Doan, pork prices will increase and remain high, but not for long. This is because when live pigs fetch high prices and yield good profits, people will rush to restock their herds. When supply increases, the price of this commodity will cool down.

Mr. Doan also explained that for pig farmers, maintaining the price of live pigs at 63,000-65,000 VND is enough to ensure good profits. At the current price, theoretically, farmers are making very high profits, but it depends on whether farmers still have pigs to sell.

In reality, farmers currently don't have many pigs to sell because many pigs died from the disease previously, or they are afraid of the disease and don't dare to start raising them. Even businesses are facing difficulties in expanding their farming operations due to the rampant disease.

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