Feed producers raised the price of a 25kg bag of feed by VND5,000 last Friday, the second price increase in October alone. Farmers confirmed that a bag of feed was currently VND50-70,000 more expensive than a year ago.

The association attributed the rising prices to higher raw material costs, reportedly up from 15 to 40 per cent since the beginning of the year. The price of corn, for example, has reached VND4,200/kg, up roughly 40 per cent, while the figure for soybeans is US$380 per tonne, up more than 50 per cent.

The Government has cut prices of imported feed by 3-5 per cent since August, but domestic prices have kept rising on the back of increasing raw material prices worldwide, the association said.

Feed producers noted, however, that the average price hike of feed was only roughly 20 per cent while raw materials had gone up to 30 per cent.

Many feed producers, especially foreign-invested producers, have also foreclosed any price increases through the end of the year by signing futures contracts.

No chicken feed

With a consumption of 800 bags of feed per day, a chicken breeder in the southern province of Dong Nai said higher feed costs have added VND8 million per day to his expenses. The farmer lamented that he might have to turn to other work due to the high-risk nature of livestock breeding.

In a move to restrict the feed price hike, the association has asked the Government to take more action and exempt the industry from the value-added tax (VAT).

The country’s demand for feed is roughly 17 million tonnes yearly, 3.5 million of which come from imports, according to the association’s statistics.