August 16, 2011

Vietnam's meat imports continue to surge

Vietnam's meat import volume surged last month, and will carry on if pork prices on the domestic market remain high, said the Animal Health Centre for Zone 4 in Ho Chi Minh City.

The amount of imported frozen pork in July was 1,300 tonnes, quadrupling that in June, said Nguyen Xuan Binh, director of the center.

The high volume imported meat in July made the country's total imports of 52,180 tonnes of meat in the first seven months. In the first half, the imported amount of frozen meat of all types reached 39,180 tonnes, up 25% from the same period last year.

The imported amount in the second half might rise, Binh predicted.

A local importer said the company receive many offers of frozen meat at prices VND25,000-VND30,000 (US$1.2-1.4) lower than the domestic prices.

The record high live-pig price of VND64,000 (US$3) per kg in July in Vietnam has prompted the huge import of pork. At present, the local price has eased to under VND59,000 (US$2.8) due to the low meat consumption in the seventh lunar month, also known as the vegetarian month.