Vietnam suffers from high animal feed prices

According to the Vietnam Feed Association, the prices of several types of feed products, especially oil-cake and maize, have been increasing significantly. The soybean oil-cake import price was reportedly at US $435/tonne at Hai Phong City port, and US $230/tonne in HCM City, representing a 40% increase in comparison with October 2008.

Meanwhile, both the import and domestic maize prices have also been rising. Domestic maize has seen the price rising from VND 3,400 to VND 4,200/kg, while the imports have increased to US $210/tonne, or between 10-15% in comparison with October 2008.

According to Le Ba Lich, Chairman of the Feed Association, the main reason behind the unexpected feed price increase is the short supply in the world, while Vietnam still has to import 70% of the total materials it needs.

The feed price has been increasing in the world because of the heavy drought in China. The country began importing large quantities of animal feed from India, Argentina, and the US in late 2008 and early 2009, which has to the short supply in the world’s market.