Pork prices sharply increase

Hue, however, added that this would be a temporary solution in order to help stabilise domestic pork prices.

The General Office of Statistics reported that the country would face a pork shortage of around 200,000 tonnes in live weight in the fourth quarter of this year. The figure would be around 90,000 tonnes during Lunar New Year which falls on January 20.

The Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade said that Hanoi would consider importing pork from France and Indonesia to meet demand along with the supply of other products such as beef and seafood to replace pork.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has forecasted that pork prices would continue sharply rising until the Tet Holiday.

Pham Van Dong, director-general of Vietnam’s Department of Animal Health, said since February, 5.88 million pigs, or 8.5% of Vietnam’s meat, had been culled because of African Swine Fever. This was the main reason for the pork shortage.