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According to preliminary statistics from the General Department of Customs, in the first month of the new year, Vietnam earned nearly $85 million from the export of animal feed and raw materials, a strong increase of 82% compared to the same period in 2023. Compared to December, the import value slightly decreased by 1.5%.
In terms of markets, China has always been a loyal customer in this field for Vietnam. In January, the neighboring country imported over $27.3 million worth of animal feed from Vietnam, an increase of 119% compared to the same period in 2023.
Following China is Cambodia with over $13.7 million, an increase of 30% compared to the same period last year.
It is worth noting that the export of animal feed and raw materials is experiencing strong growth in the US market. At the end of 2023, the US was the 4th largest customer, ranking below Malaysia with over $90.4 million. However, in January, the US became the 3rd largest customer of Vietnam with over $11.4 million, a sharp increase of 390% compared to the same period in 2023, and at the same time, the market with the strongest growth.
Referring to animal feed, this is known as Vietnam’s “golden egg-laying hen” as it brought in over $1 billion in 2023, with a growth rate of over 6% compared to 2022, ranking 7th among the fastest-growing items along with confectionery and cereal products. According to the Alltech Agrifood Outlook 2023 report, Vietnam has made a strong recovery in feed production in 2022, with a production output of 26.720 million tons, ranking 8th in the world. Vietnam also ranks in the top 10 for feed, aquatic products production worldwide.
The top 10 includes China (260.739 million tons), the US (240.403 million tons), Brazil (81.948 million tons), India (43.360 million tons), Mexico (40.138 million tons), Russia (34.147 million tons), Spain (31.234 million tons), Vietnam (26.720 million tons), Argentina (25.736 million tons), and Germany (24.396 million tons).
Despite being the world’s largest producer, China continues to seek this item from Vietnam as it is the world’s largest pork producer. In addition, the country is also a major supplier of poultry meat products, eggs, and milk to the world, so besides domestic production, China must increase imports of this item to serve the livestock industry, including Vietnam.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development estimates that in 2023 Vietnam imported about 10.5 million tons of animal feed and raw materials, with a value of $5.1 billion, while exports reached only about $1.2 billion. Thus, the trade deficit of the animal feed industry amounted to $3.9 billion in 2023.
As of the end of 2023, the country had 269 complete mixed-feed industrial production plants with a total design capacity of 43.2 million tons.
A positive sign of the industry is that the Vietnamese animal feed market is attracting many companies to participate, including many foreign-invested enterprises expanding their production business. Some of the big names in the industry are Cargill Group (US), Haid (China), CP Group (Charoen Pokphand Group – Thailand), De Heus (Netherlands), BRF (Brazil), Mavin (France), Japfa (Singapore), CJ (South Korea ), …
