As the bird flu, A/H5N1, continues its spread through Vietnam, traders have taken advantage of farmers' lower poultry prices while shops suffer from slow sales.
Prices at poultry farms fall sharply
Nguyen Van Nghia, from the northern province of Vinh Phuc, owns an egg farm with 4,000 hens. His business has been sluggish in recent weeks as both sales and prices dropped.
“Prices have fallen to just VND1,400 (USD0.06) each. Just a few days ago it was VND1,600 (USD0.075), and VND2,000 (USD0.094) before Tet,” Nghia said.
He went on to say that animal feed costs around VND4.5 million (USD213) per day, and he is incurring a daily losses of around VND1.6 million (USD75.73).
“The traders blame the decline in egg prices on a fall in demand and the fact that transportation is more restricted because of the bird flu,” he said.
Many egg farmers across the country have reportedly been feeling the same pressure.
Nguyen Thi Huong owns a farm with 1,000 chickens in Bac Giang Province. She said, "We were already taking a hit by selling chickens for VND45,000 (USD2.13) per kilo. Now that the prices fell by about VND10,000 (USD4.73) it's even worse."
Egg prices at markets in Hanoi remain stable
According to other sources, however, demand for poultry has remained rather stable, with chicken eggs in Hanoi fluctuating around VND2,500 (USD0.11) each and duck eggs at VND3,000 (USD0.14). The normal price of chicken ranges from VND70,000 to VND85,000.
“Traders often take advantage of outbreaks to make excuses for offering lower prices to farmers,” said one small trader in Hanoi's Nghia Tan Market.
