Vietnam hopes to limit need for meat imports this year

“Demand for imported MEAT and meat products is unlikely to rise sharply in 2022,” the Foreign Trade Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade said in a statement.

Last year, Vietnam imported more than 700,000 tons of meat worth almost $1.3 billion and the Foreign Trade Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade hopes to keep the situation under control in 2022, although the global market is under pressure due to multiple factors such as like covid-19 , supply disruptions and rising prices due to the Ukrainian crisis.

The United States, Brazil, RUSSIA , India and Germany were the top five meat suppliers to Vietnam in 2021. In developing its forecast, the Foreign Trade Agency pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to a reduction in catering services, caused an oversupply, and made transportation difficult due to the disruption of supply chains.

The agency said Vietnam imported 53,700 tons of meat and meat products worth US$114.13 million in January , up 4.3% in volume and 17.9% in value compared to the previous month. India was the largest of 37 foreign suppliers of meat and meat products to Vietnam.

The agency said the livestock sector will continue to face challenges this year as the African swine fever (ASF) pandemic and epidemic remain pressure factors. In addition, domestic production and intermediate costs are still high. Meanwhile, trade experts predict that Vietnam's livestock industry will continue to recover in 2022 as ASF prevention measures have proven beneficial in helping large-scale farms avoid large-scale outbreaks.

Statistics show that there are about 28 million pigs raised in the country, with meat production largely meeting domestic demand. This may limit the need for pork imports, which last year amounted to almost 150,000 tons of frozen pork. Russia was the largest supplier of frozen pork to Vietnam, 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 from 4.6%.