Pigs prices spike as fever, fluctuations cut supply

Spikes in pig prices were recorded across Vietnam this week, with the south experiencing the largest hikes as price tags rose to VND62,000 ($2.64) a kg. Retail prices at markets and supermarkets also went up, with pork side selling for VND140,000-160,000 a kg.

Hoang, a pig trader in the southern province of Dong Nai, said that prices are rising due to slow herd growth and low supply. The recent spread of African Swine Fever was cutting supplies of the animal.

Many provinces, such as Ninh Binh in the north, have spent billions of dong fighting the epidemic.

Nguyen Tri Cong, chairman of the Dong Nai Animal Husbandry Association, said that besides the African swine fever, recent drops in pork prices had prompted many small livestock households to quit recently, which also cut supply.

Cong predicted that prices wouldn’t rise enough to boost supply because demand is still low due to the economic recession, and many processing factories have also halted operations.

"Even at VND58,000-62,000 a kg, these household farmers can barely break even, or they turn just a small profit," he said.