March 24, 2008

Vietnam's chicken farmers limit output on cheap imports, high input costs

Some poultry farmers in Vietnam have been forced to cut down output by half due to the entry of cheaper imports in the market and the escalating costs of production.

Currently, domestic chicken sells for about VND47,000 (US$2.97) a kilogramme against imported chicken from the US, Brazil and Argentina which cost about VND30,000 (US$1.90) a kg for chicken legs and VND40,000 (US$2.53) a kg for chicken wings.

Pham Van Minh, director of Phu An Sinh Company, which runs several chicken farms in Vung Tau Province, said the production cost of chicken had risen to VND28,000 (US$1.77) a kg from VND22,000 (US$1.39) last year..

Animal feed prices have nearly doubled against last year, with breeding expenses rising from VND8,000 (US$0.51) a head last year to VND11,000 (US$0.70).

Vietnam's chicken industry experts reported that many giant farms in the south that raise hundreds of thousands of chickens had reduced output by 50 percent.

Each month, local importers ship hundreds of containers of chicken meat via HCM City ports, with each container weighing 26 tonnes due to high local demand and low import taxes, chicken traders said.

HCM City alone consumes an average of 80 tonnes of imported chicken meat a day, the HCM City Department of Animal Health disclosed.