June 18, 2025

Cargill leaves Vietnam's aquafeed market despite earning billions in profit

Cargill, the American agribusiness titan with annual revenues 18 times that of SpaceX, has officially exited Vietnam's aquafeed business as of early May 2025, despite having previously earned trillions of Vietnamese Dong in profit from the sector.

According to S&P Global, Cargill is working with its employees to manage the transition. The company is closing two aquafeed plants in Đồng Tháp and Long An provinces, and also shutting down its aquaculture technology application center in Tiền Giang.

This strategic withdrawal follows a US$160 million investment by Cargill in Vietnam, where it built 12 feed mills for aquaculture and livestock, with a combined annual capacity of 1.6 million tonnes.

On LinkedIn, several Cargill Vietnam employees have posted updates about their departure from the company. In an interview with the Vietnam Livestock Journal, Maxime Hilbert, Acting Managing Director of Cargill's Aquaculture Nutrition Division in Thailand and Vietnam, explained that the decision reflects the company's focus on long-term priorities in selected markets and livestock segments.

Cargill's exit from aquafeed in Vietnam comes in the wake of its global restructuring effort announced in December 2024, which included a 5% reduction in its global workforce. The company cited strategic realignment as the reason behind the cuts.

The competitive nature of Vietnam's aquafeed industry has posed challenges for Cargill in recent years. S&P Global reported that the company's aquafeed operations in the country underperformed over the past two years, despite rapid industry growth.

According to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam, aquafeed output in the first five months of 2025 rose 7.8% year-on-year to 3.64 million tonnes. Meanwhile, Vietnam's overall aquaculture production grew from 53.6% of total seafood output in 2018 to 60% in 2024, showing a clear upward trend.

Despite a 10% revenue drop from US$177 billion to US$160 billion in fiscal year 2024, Cargill maintained its position at the top of Forbes' list of largest private companies. The company continues to vastly out-earn household names such as SpaceX (US$8.7 billion) and Valve (US$5 billion).

Cargill has operated in Vietnam since February 1995 and now employs over 1,500 people across various business units, including animal nutrition and health, food and beverage ingredients, agricultural supply chain, and specialized feed ingredients.

According to Vietdata, Cargill Vietnam's revenue consistently increased from 2020 to 2022. Revenue grew from over ₫17 trillion in 2020 (US$650.77 million) to nearly ₫28.5  trillion (US$1.07 billion) in 2022—up 56% in 2021 and an additional 7% in 2022.

However, profit after tax fluctuated during this period. Cargill Vietnam posted net profit of nearly ₫940 billion (US$35.98 million) in 2020, which rose 15% to nearly ₫1,100 billion (US$42.10 million) in 2021 before declining 18% to around ₫890 billion (US$34.07 million) in 2022.

Vietnam's aquafeed market is highly competitive, with major players including C.P. (Thailand), Grobest (Taiwan), Japfa (Indonesia), BioMar (Vietnam-Australia), Sunjin and CJ (South Korea), Uni-President (Taiwan), YueHai (China), and local-foreign joint ventures like Thăng Long Group (Vietnam-China).

Domestic players such as Sao Mai Group, Mavin, and Greenfeed are also active in the space.

The market has seen significant recent investment: in May 2024, Thăng Long Group inaugurated a new plant in Hải Dương, boosting annual capacity to 700,000 tonnes; YueHai broke ground on a new factory in Vĩnh Long in April 2024, with an expected annual output of 200,000 tonnes.

Before Cargill's exit, Chinese aquafeed firm Tong Wei had already scaled back operations, reducing the capacity of its Tiền Giang plant from 300,000 tonnes to 220,000 tonnes back in 2015.

Cargill's withdrawal marks a significant reshaping of Vietnam's aquafeed industry — one of Southeast Asia's most dynamic sectors — and raises questions about the future strategies of foreign players in the region.

-      Vietnam Insider