Major pork producers posted losses in the last quarter of 2022 as animal feed costs rose and consumer demand dropped as people tightened spending.
Dabaco Vietnam, the country’s biggest husbandry firm, recorded a VND79 billion ($3.34 million) loss in the last quarter, the first quarterly loss in five years.
BaF Vietnam saw expenses exceed revenue by VND6 billion for the first time since 2021, but thanks to selling some assets the company posted an overall profit of nearly VND7 billion.
Masan MeatLife posted a loss of VND170 billion during the last quarter of the year, and recorded a loss of VND230 billion for the entire year, the first loss since it started releasing financial figures in 2016.
Since the end of 2021 the company stopped producing animal feed and focused only on meat, contributing to its losses.
Hoang Anh Gia Lai recorded VND110 billion in profit from its pork sales in the last quarter, a 36% drop from the third quarter.
Hoa Phat Group’s agriculture and husbandry business was in the red with more than VND34 billion in losses in the last quarter.
For the whole year, the company saw this business posting a profit of VND22 billion, its lowest profit since 2016.
BaF said that pig diseases, disruptions in supply and rising input costs negatively impacted the company’s earnings. Dabaco added that the decline in consumer demand also contributed to the losses.
Pork prices in December dropped 15%-20% from October to VND50,000 per kilogram as supply exceeded demand.
Last year, pig supply rose 11% from 2021.
Analysts of brokerage expect pork prices to rise 5% this year as demand recovers and input costs begin to stabilize globally.
However, SSI Research forecast that pork prices are set to rise 20% to VND60,000 per kilogram this year, with the reopening of China helping to pump up demand.
However, the strong U.S. dollar and the African swine fever will remain possible risks to the sector, they added.