Feed prices continue to climb

The price of animal feed is expected to continue to rise because of higher prices of raw materials and the recent devaluation of the Vietnamese dong against the US dollar, according to animal-feed producers.

Pham Duc Binh, general director of the Dong Nai Province-based feed maker Thanh Binh Corporation and deputy chairman of the Viet Nam Animal Feed Association, said the price of animal feed would likely rise by about 3 per cent.

Prices were expected to go up after producers had exhausted all of their current stock, Binh said.

Previously, animal-feed producers stocked raw materials for production for three months, but due to the high interest rates on bank loans they have borrowed, they are keeping them for only two months.

Animal-feed companies import about 55 per cent of their raw materials to make animal feed like corn, soybean and wheat products.

They also import 90-95 per cent of dried soybean cakes, fish flour and meat flour, and 100 per cent of minerals and vitamins to produce animal feed.

In addition, Vietnamese exporters will impose higher purchase prices for raw materials, including cassava, reports Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Sai Gon) newspaper.

There are additional concerns that the price of electricity, petrol and coal would rise soon.

Last year, Viet Nam imported US$2.7 billion of raw materials to make animal feed, compared to $2.1 billion in 2009.

The country is expected to import about $3 billion of raw materials for animal feed this year.

Because animal feed accounts for 70 per cent of production costs, breeders will be affected adversely.

The price of animal feed has risen three times this year, with each time increasing by VND100-250 per kg. Last year, the price of animal feed rose 14 times.

Le Ba Lich, chairman of the Viet Nam Animal Feed Association, said the price of animal feed increased as a result of the continuous increase in raw materials prices.

Binh said the production costs of raising pigs and industrial-bred chicken in many localities had become higher than selling prices.

Small-scale breeders would suffer more losses than large-scale professional breeders, he added. — VNS

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