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Southern farmers rue counting their chickens
Farmer Nguyen Huu Cong from the southern province of Dong Nai did not hesitate to increase his flock of chickens three times to 6,000 as meat prices began rising at the beginning of this year.
He borrowed VND250 million (US$14,000) from banks and friends, banking on handsome profits with prices of Tam Hoang chicken (Chinese chicken) at VND47,000 ($2.63) per kilo against production costs of VND25,000-26,000.
But now, when his chickens are mature enough to sell, prices have fallen to VND20,000 per kilogram, far below the cost of raising them.
Though Cong has accepted losses of VND50-60 million from this venture, he is still struggling to find buyers.
Chicken traders and food processing companies said residents rushed to raise the fowl without entering into any contracts with traders as prices were high and costs low several months ago. This resulted in a market glut and falling prices, they added.
Nguyen Trong Huy, based in Dong Nai’s Xuan Loc District, said he lost VND4,000 per kilogram on selling 7,000 chickens at VND23,000 per kilogram two weeks ago.
He still has another 2,000 chickens, weighing three kilograms each, but nobody wants to buy them.
“I use the money from the sales to buy food for the remaining chickens, at about VND2 million per day,” he said.
Dang Quoc Khanh, another farmer in Xuan Loc District, said he is now “sitting on fire” as he needs to sell 50,000 chickens in the next two weeks to clear debts as prices continue to fall.
He said he invested VND2 billion ($112,315) in his chicken farm three months ago, most of it borrowed from banks and other people. He said the private loans carried an interest rate of 2 percent per month.
Nguyen Hong Son, who owns chicken farms in Dong Nai’s Vinh Cuu District, Xuan Loc District and Long Khanh Town, said he normally sells 6,000-7,000 Tam Hoang chickens to Ho Chi Minh City every day.
He said the oversupply has made his business a little difficult but residents who raised the fowl without any agreement with traders have been hit the most.
In neighboring Binh Duong Province, many farmers are facing the same situation.
Hoang Mau Ha, who has raised 7,500 Tam Hoang chickens in Ben Cat District, said farmers are now very worried as they no longer have money to buy food to feed the fowl and few traders are calling on their farms.
Pham Van Minh, Director of HCMCbased Phu An Sinh Company, which supplies chicken meat to supermarkets in the city, said prices have fallen 4-5 times since early June, at VND1,000-2,000 per kilogram each time.
Traders said chicken meat prices would increase a little next month when schools in the city start a new academic year, but this is small comfort to the farmers have already burned their fingers.
Poultry imports in April and May were worth $8 million per month, compared with $3-4 million per month in the first two months of this year, according to the Information Center for Agriculture and Rural Development.
Frozen chicken imported from US costs around VND25,000-28,000 per kilogram, the center said.
thanhnien, tt, saigontiepthi
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