HANOI: Vietnam spent nearly US$3 billion importing animal feed and fodder raw materials in the first 11 months of last year, an increase of 5.86 percent year on year, according to Vietnam Customs.
As much as $243 million spent in November alone, up nearly 28 percent from the same period last year, the Thoi Bao Kinh Te Saigon Online quoted the agency.
Since the local fodder sector mostly relies on imported raw materials, Vietnamese animal feed prices are always 15-20 percent higher than those of other Southeast Asian countries, thus hardly competing with foreign rivals, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said.
In fact, the Vietnamese animal feed market is now being controlled by several FDI businesses which hold large shares and “unhealthily” compete with local companies by jointly fixing prices, and using exclusive distributors and huge discounts, according to the ministry.
Latest figures from the Vietnam Feed Association showed that while less than 25 percent of 239 feed factories across the country are currently run by joint-ventures and FDI businesses, their capacities, outputs and market shares outweigh locally-owned ones.
Thai-owned C.P. Vietnam Corporation, for instance, owns the largest market share of 19.42 percent, followed by US-owned Cargill Vietnam Limited with about 8.11 percent. Meanwhile, Proconco, a joint-venture between Vietnam and France, holds 7.51 percent.
The ministry urged the government to improve the healthy competition of the fodder market by breaking foreign companies’ monopoly and enabling some local businesses to control the market, the newspaper reported.
The costs of animal feed accounted for some 70 percent of Vietnam’s breeding market value, estimated at more than $6.95 billion in 2012 and more than $7.64 billion in 2013, according to official statistics.
