May 24, 2011
Vietnamese pricey meat prices boost meat imports
There has been a notable increase in frozen meat imports in Vietnam, in particular poultry meat but also pork and beef due to importers taking advantage of more costly domestic prices.
Frozen meat imports arriving at Ho Chi Minh City ports in recent months have increased by 20-30% over the same period last year as importers take advantage of price hikes in the domestic market, reported an official source.
Nguyen Xuan Binh, director of the Animal Health Centre region six, said 25,905 tonnes of frozen meat, mostly poultry meat, were imported in the first four months of the year.
The increase in the price of pork and chicken in the domestic market offers excellent opportunities for importers to ship a large volume of meat for higher profits.
According to the HCM City Sub-Department of Animal Health, the volume of imported frozen meat that the sub-department controls has sometimes increased two- to three-fold compared to normal times.
In April, the department supervised nearly 10,000 tonnes of imported meat, including 786 tonnes of beef, 8,219 tonnes of poultry meat and 456 tonnes of pork, according to the media.
After Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday, the price of pork and chicken on the domestic market fell strongly, outselling imports.
However, when pork and chicken prices surged strongly in the domestic market, the price of imported meat also increased, although the global price remained unchanged or only slightly increased, bringing huge profits for meat importers.
For instance, the global price of chicken wings is about US$2,300/tonne currently, with the cost including tax and other expenses at VND65,000/kg (US$3.13) when it arrives in Vietnam. However, a kilogramme of imported chicken wings is being sold for VND90,000 (US$4.34).
Similarly, the cost of a kilogramme of imported pork is about VND60,000 (US$2.89) including tax and other expenses, while its retail price in the domestic market is VND70,000-80,000 per kilogramme (US$3.37-3.86).
Imported frozen meat is usually VND10,000 (US$0.48) cheaper than that of local meat, according to the source.
