In Vietnam, where pork is used as the major meat for meals, raising pigs is the livelihood of many households. Prior to 2017, when pigs went for a good price, people rushed to raise pigs with a hope that their lives would improve. But this led to the biggest oversupply crisis in the history of the husbandry sector.

A report found that in early 2017, a herd of pigs reached its peak with 29 pigs. Meanwhile, China tightened the import of pigs across border gates. Prices plummeted from VND50,000-55,000 per kilogram in 2016 to VND 15,000-17,000 per kilogram in April 2017.

It was estimated that from October 2016 to April 2017, farmers took a loss of VND1.5 trillion when selling 1.6 million pigs.

To stop the price falls and settle oversupply, a pork rescue campaign, the largest in history, was organized. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) then organized urgent meetings, sent dispatches to the Prime Minister to ask for help and called for consumers to prioritize buying pork to help farmers overcome difficulties. 

At the same time, Vietnam applied temporary measures to restrict the development of the herds of pigs and stop imports. The measures helped the price slide and the pork price began recovering in late 2017. 

However, the crisis caused serious consequences: 900,000 farming households had to stop farming and many of them incurred big losses and went bankrupt.

The oversupply crisis came when foot-and-mouth disease broke out. However, the epidemic that massacred pig farming broke out two years later, in February 2019 - African swine fever (ASF). 

By September 2019, the epidemic had spread to 63 cities/provinces. About 6 million pigs were culled which caused a loss of VND12 trillion. In the crisis, the pig price once again fell to the bottom of VND25,000 per kilogram.

In many localities, pig farming was nearly eliminated, despite state support.

Because of the epidemic, a supply shortage occurred, pushing pork prices up. The prices escalated and hit unprecedented highs. MARD convened urgent meetings with enterprises and localities to discuss solutions to stabilize pork prices, but the prices still galloped. 

The live price soared from VND42,000 per kilogram in August 2019 to VND 90,000 in February 2020. Some localities reported that prices hit VND100,000 per kilogram in May 2020.

Pork turned out to be an expensive item in the crisis, affecting the quality of the meals of millions of Vietnamese families.

Another rescue campaign was organized, but to force prices down this time. MARD requested to repopulate pigs, and allowed imports of frozen pork and live pigs from Thailand for domestic slaughtering.

According to the General Department of Customs (GDC), in 2020, Vietnam imported 141,140 tons of pork, an increase of 382 percent over 2019. It imported 450,000 pigs from Thailand.

From the peak of VND100,000 per kilogram, the live price dropped to VND 60,000-70,000. However, prices at traditional markets and supermarkets stood at high prices for a long time. 

In early 2021, the livestock industry said it could supply enough pork. However, the fourth outbreak of Covid-19 then led to a disruption of the pork supply chain. The sharp fall in pork demand caused the pork price to tumble once again.

MARD then estimated that the number of oversized unsold pigs was in the millions.

Farmers still hoped that when the lockdowns were lifted, the pig prices would bounce back. 

However, even when Vietnam returned to its new normal, the pig prices continued to slide. 

In 2021, the live price hovered around VND30,000-45,000 per kilogram, which meant that farmers took a loss of VND1-2.5 million for each pig.

At that time, experts warned that the 2017 pig price crisis could be repeated. But the pig price recovered shortly. 

In July 2022, the price soared to VND 75,000 per kilogram for a short time before falling down again.

Since late 2020, pig farmers have been struggling with the animal feed price hike. The price of the product has been adjusted 17 times, whole pig prices are on the decrease. 

Live price is now VND46,000-52,000 per kilogram. 

According to Duong Tat Thang from MARD, import tariffs for most input materials to make animal feed have been lowered to zero percent. 

However, the crisis in the sector with a value of $10 billion over the last six years has not come to an end.

Tam An