Vietnam spends over $29 billion importing animal feed and raw materials.

Foreign-invested enterprises spent $1.22 billion to import this item, a 5% increase compared to the same period last year. Domestic enterprises imported animal feed and raw materials worth $1.69 billion, a slight increase of 0.1% compared to the same period last year.

Vietnam spends $2.91 billion to import animal feed and raw materials (Illustrative image)

As of July 2024, except for February and July when Vietnam saw a decrease in imports, all other months recorded high import value growth compared to the same period last year. Notably, April saw a 34% increase compared to the same period last year, reaching $498 million.

In the first seven months of 2024, Argentina was the largest supplier of animal feed and raw materials to Vietnam, with $827 million, a 10.8% increase compared to the same period last year. Following closely behind were the United States with $652 million, a 56% increase year-on-year, and Brazil with $404 million, a 14% decrease year-on-year.

Vietnam also spent $248 million importing animal feed and raw materials from China, a 53% increase compared to the same period last year; and $109 million from India, a sharp 70% decrease compared to the same period last year.

Among the largest markets, Vietnam imports animal feed and raw materials from two ASEAN markets, including Indonesia with a value of US$81 million, an increase of 12.8% compared to the same period; and Thailand with US$122 million, a significant increase of 65% in value compared to the first seven months of 2023.

The demand for imported animal feed and raw materials is occurring against the backdrop of remarkable development in Vietnam's livestock industry. Over the past three years, Vietnam has consistently maintained its position as the 5th largest pig herd in the world in terms of number of animals and 6th largest in terms of production; its poultry population is among the top in the world (with waterfowl ranking 2nd globally); its raw milk production ranks 4th in ASEAN; and its industrial animal feed production ranks number one in Southeast Asia and 12th globally.

Vietnam's livestock products also brought in good export revenue, reaching US$515 million in 2023, a 26.2% increase compared to the previous year. Currently, more and more livestock products are being exported, such as honey, suckling pigs, bird's nests, salted duck eggs, milk, and processed chicken meat…