Source: baomoi.com
According to the latest figures just released General Department of Customs announced that in the first 8 months of 2024, Vietnam spent nearly 1.08 billion USD to import meat and meat products. Compared to the same period last year, the import value of this group of items increased sharply by 20.3%.
Meanwhile, in the opposite direction, Vietnam’s meat and meat product exports only reached 105 million USD. Thus, our country is having a trade deficit of about 970 million USD of meat and meat products.
Vietnam imports fresh and frozen pork, beef, poultry, and edible animal by-products such as chicken feet, chicken necks, chicken skin, hearts, kidneys, gizzards, etc. in large quantities because the prices of these items are too cheap compared to similar products domestically.
According to the report of the Department of Animal Husbandry (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), the price of live pigs in countries that are suppliers to Vietnam is quite low. For example, in RussiaBrazil, Canada, the price of this item is only 34,100-34,200 VND/kg; in the US it is 38,400 VND/kg…. Therefore, the average price of imported pork is only 52,000-55,000 VND/kg. In Vietnam, the price of live pigs fluctuates between 61,000-67,000 VND/kg; pork products on the market are commonly priced at 120,000-250,000 VND/kg depending on the type.
Discarded laying hens (hens that have finished their egg-laying cycle) from Thailand and Korea that are not used as food are exported to Vietnam for only 20,000 VND/hen. When they reach the border, the price is about 40,000 VND/hen and they are sold on the market for 50,000-60,000 VND/hen.
Or frozen pig trotters cost only 39,000 VND/kg, ribs cost 49,000 VND/kg, pork leg costs 79,000 VND/kg, pig heart costs 69,000 VND/kg; frozen American chicken thighs and chicken thighs cost 59,000 VND/kg, frozen American chicken thighs cost 49,000 VND/kg… This price is only half, or even 1/3 compared to the price of domestically produced goods.
According to the business community, these meat and by-product products are mainly sold to collective kitchens, cheap restaurants, and street food stalls… because they are cheap.
Vietnam has been known as a country with the 5th largest pig farming industry. world in terms of head and 6th in meat output. Leading is China (48%), second is the EU (20%), third is the US (11%), Brazil (4%), Russia (4%), Vietnam (3%). However, according to the General Department of Customs, in the past 8 months, Vietnam imported meat and meat products, by-products from 37 countries and territories around the world. The most of which are India, Russia, Brazil, Germany, Canada, the US, Spain, Poland… the reasons for the trade deficit are mentioned above.
