Vietnam hopes to limit the need for meat imports this year
Last year, Vietnam imported more than 700,000 tonnes of meat, worth almost $1.3 billion and the Agency of Foreign Trade under the Ministry of Industry and Trade hopes to keep the situation under control for 2022, although the global market is under pressure due to multiple factors such as COVID-19, supply disruption and rising prices due to the war in Ukraine.
The United States, Brazil, Russia, India and Germany were the five biggest meat suppliers for Vietnam in 2021. Elaborating its forecast, the Agency of Foreign Trade pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic that has shrunken eating-out services, caused redundant supply, and hampered transportation due to disrupted supply chains.
In January, Vietnam imported 53,700 tonnes of meat and meat products worth 114.13 million USD, up 4.3% in volume and 17.9% in value month on month, the agency reported. India was the largest among the 37 foreign suppliers of meat and meat products for Vietnam.
The agency said the husbandry sector will continue to face difficulties this year as the pandemic and the African swine fever (ASF) epidemic remain complicated. Besides, domestic production and intermediate costs are still high. Meanwhile, trade experts predicted animal husbandry in Vietnam will continue recovering in 2022 as ASF prevention measures have proved useful, helping major farming establishments avoid large-scale outbreaks.
Statistics show that about 28 million pigs are being farmed nationwide, with the volume raised for meat production basically meeting domestic demand. That may limit the need for pork imports, which were at almost 150,000 tonnes last year in frozen pork. Russia was Vietnam’s biggest supplier of frozen pork, accounting for nearly 40% of the country’s total frozen pork imports, followed by Brazil with 15.7%, Germany with 12.4%, Canada with 10.6% and Poland with 4.6%.
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