January 11, 2011

Vietnam may import 100,000 tonnes meat in 2011

Vietnam is likely to import 100,000 tonnes of meat to meet the domestic demand, said the country's Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The Southeast Asian country needs 2.9 million tonnes of meat this year, increasing between 6.5% and 7% from a year earlier, the ministry said.

Domestic meat output decreased last year due to unfavourable weather, occurrence of animal diseases and high prices of production inputs.

Local food firms have stockpiled a large quantity of meat for coming Lunar New Year or Tet festival, preventing meat price from surging during the festival, the news agency said.

Vietnam had 27.37 million pigs, 300.5 million fowls, 2.913 million buffalos and 5.916 million cows as of October 1, the General Statistics Office said.