Overview - Asia Beef Network

Viet Nam COUNTRY PROFILE

Overview

Key facts about the industry 2000-2013

		Compounded Annual growth (%)
Herd size (million head 2013):	5.16	1.6%
Turn off/slaughter (million head 2013)	1.77	8.8%
Turn off rate/Slaughter rate (% 2013)	34	7.1%
Cattle meat (million tonnes 2013)	0.29	8%
Cattle meat supply (kg/person 2013)	3.1	6.9%
Cattle price (US$/kg liveweight 2013)⁴	3.2	4.6%

Source: adapted from CIS/MARD (2014).

⁴The cattle liveweight price was calculated by the Centre for Informatics and Statistics/MARD using the data reported by 100 districts in Vietnam

HIGHLIGHTS

Vietnam is comparatively a small beef producer on a global scale.
Production is mainly traditional crop-livestock systems predominated with Yellow and Laisind breeds. Market-oriented fattening systems are becoming increasingly popular.
The country has a small and fragmented pasture area. Feed costs are relatively high. Imports of feed and feed ingredients have sharply increased in the past 5 years.
The market chain involves several actors/traders before animals reach markets.
The processing sector is at a primary stage, largely dominated by small scale abattoirs.
The cattle number has been declining since 2008 due to an increase in the turnoff/slaughter number.
Imports of beef and live cattle from Australia have increased notably recently due to a growing demand for higher beef quality from domestic markets.
Semi-formal live imports of cattle from Thailand and Myanmar through Cambodia and Laos into Vietnam, and re-exports of cattle and beef from Vietnam to China have increased considerably in recent years. Cross-border price differentials played a crucial role in shaping the cattle trade patterns.