Vietnam’s cattle industry is failing to meet the country’s increasing demand for beef, forcing local consumers to turn to imported products. Last year, the country imported more than 262,300 live cattle, and nearly 42,000 tons of beef and buffalo meat, valued at more than $410 million, according to the Animal Husbandry Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Explaining the reason for the imports, vice head of the department Tong Xuan Chinh said Vietnamese people’s diets have changed drastically in recent years, and they’re now eating more beef and buffalo meat. Average consumption has doubled to 5-6 kilograms of beef and buffalo meat per year in the past decade, but the cattle industry has been unable to keep up with the pace. Local supplies of beef and buffalo meat only meet 80 percent of the current demand. “Imports of beef and buffalo meat are unavoidable due to limited local supplies,” said chairman of the Vietnam Animal Husbandry Association Nguyen Dang Vang. “We don’t have the policies needed to develop the cattle industry.” Imported beef, mainly from Australia and the U.S., is available in air conditioned supermarkets, modern food stores and local markets, and some restaurants are also using imported beef in their dishes. Many local consumers favor imported products thanks to their reasonable prices and food safety concerns that have plagued the Vietnamese food market in recent years. Beef imported from Australia and the U.S. costs from VND100.000-500.000 ($4.4-22.02) per kilogram, around the same price as local products…. [Read full story]
Lack of advantageous conditions, trade pact set to increase Vietnam's reliance on imports A woman feeds her cows at a farm in Dak Lak Province's Ea Kar District Imported beef has flooded the local market over the past few years, crushing Vietnam's weak cattle husbandry industry, and the situation is unlikely to change, experts say. They say the country's heavy reliance on imports to meet domestic demand will not only continue, but intensify in the future because there are no feasible plans to develop a domestic livestock industry, and trade pacts like the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) will ease the…... [read more]
The purchase of the US$13.6 million cattle ranch by An Vien Pastoral Holding and Agriculture Company is the first far-reaching Vietnamese agricultural investment in the land down under on record, says MLA. Per MLA, Pham Nhat Vu, chair of the An Vien Media Group holding company, was listed the official successful bidder of record for the purchase of the 200,000-hectare cattle ranch. The deal includes the purchase of 10,000 head of Brahman cattle. Commenting, an MLA spokesperson said: When you see high-net-wealth individuals and global corporations making beef investments in Australia, it shows confidence in the Australian beef industry and…... [read more]
Foreign firms are making the most of growing consumer demand for high-quality beef, Photo: Le Toan Le Van Tu, vice director of investment consultancy Japan-Vietnam Commercial Investment Company, said the company was helping Japan’s Ogawa Company to implement a project to raise cattle and process beef in Hanoi’s Ba Vi district. “The beef will be for the domestic market,” Tu said, adding that Japan’s Sanei Company was also likely to follow suit. Vietnam had major potential for beef production. While the country had to import a big volume of beef annually at high prices, local production could help cut costs,…... [read more]
Vietnam should design its own policies to promote supporting industries which cannot develop if the country only relies on foreign firms for technology transfer, the chief of the Ho Chi Minh City chapter of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) said on the sidelines of a recent conference. The Vietnamese government should immediately take a number of measures to spearhead supporting industry development, such as a financial aid policy with low interest from one to three percent per year and long-term development strategies with the right incentives, said Hirotaka Yasuzumi, executive director of the JETRO branch. The ideas were offered…... [read more]
As the demand for imported beef soars, Australian exporters are strengthening their market share in Viet Nam, but the situation is fraught with risk. — Photo doanhnghiepvn.vn
As the demand for imported beef soars, Australian exporters are strengthening their market share in Viet Nam, but the situation is fraught with risk, experts say.
A Dau tu (Investment Review) newspaper report says Viet Nam has become one of the largest importers of Australian cattle. In 2016, Viet Nam ranked fourth among 32 countries importing Australian cattle.
The report quoted Tong Xuan Chinh, deputy head of the…... [read more]