Vietnam will build special zones for producing animal feed ingredients with the aim to reduce reliance on imports, according to recent report by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The Ministry and its units together with the Department of Livestock Production will coordinate with a number of corporations to deploy a model of joint production of animal feed and feed ingredients in Central Highlands provinces, said Mr. Duong Tat Thang, the Director of Livestock Production Department. The goal is to increase the sourcing of domestic raw materials and reduce its reliance on imported animal feeds.
According to various reports, the livestock sector in Vietnam is growing rapidly but it has to spend up to US$10 billion to import agricultural products and raw materials for animal feeds. Vietnam currently has a total herd population of about 28.6 million pigs, 531 million poultry, and 6.53 million cows. Live meat production reached 7.05 million tons, up 4.8% in 2022. The livestock sector is facing fluctuations in the supply of animal feed as such it has to import from foreign countries.
Due to the heavy reliance on imports as well as rising transportation costs, the cost of livestock has jumped as animal feed cost accounted for 70% of total cost of livestock. Currently, the domestic supply of raw materials for feed like corn and soybean contributed only 30% to the industry’s requirement. As such, the industry for domestic feed ingredients has plenty of room for growth.
In recent years, Vietnam has been increasing its import of animal feed. In 2021, it imported US$10 billion of animal feed to meet its domestic need, and this figure is expected to remain about the same in 2022.
According to the Animal Husbandry Association of Vietnam, with an average growth rate of about 12%, in the next 5 years, Vietnam needs about 28 to 30 million tons of raw materials for animal feed production each year. In the near future, if it is still unable to boost its domestic supply, it might need to import up to US$13 billion of raw materials for animal feed production every year.
As such, the building of dedicated zones for animal feed ingredients production is a necessity to feed its growing herd population.
