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Cambodia: Pig prices in a poke
The agriculture ministry said it is collecting all the information, feedback and comment from relevant stakeholders to resolve the issue on the price of live pigs and pork on the market.
Minister of Agriculture Veng Sakhon said he would like to say thanks to all relevant stakeholders – pig raisers, slaughterhouses, pork sellers and consumers who are providing the feedback and comment on the price of live pigs and pork on the market.
He said that he will find solutions that are acceptable to all stakeholders during the trying situation of the spread of COVID-19 regarding t the price live pigs and pork on the market.
The move came after some people pointed out the price of live pigs in Thailand is cheaper than Cambodia at only 77 baht (10,065 riels, $2.48) per kilogramme, while Cambodia sells them at more than $3 a kilogramme.
Sakhon said, however, that at present, the price of live pigs in Thailand has already risen to 11,500 riels ($2.875) per kilogramme, while it is 17,500 riel ($4.37) per kilogramme for them in Vietnam. However, in Cambodia, the ministry has urged local pig raisers to sell live pig at around 2,000 riel ($3) a kilogramme.
He said that so far the six companies allowed to import live pigs from Thailand to Cambodia are not able to do so because they cannot make any profit from the business because the price of live pigs in Thailand includes transportation and is higher than the price of local live pigs.
“We issued licences to six companies to import about 5,000 to 6,000 live pigs a day to Cambodia, but now the importers are not able to import them they cannot make a profit,” Sakhon said. “Now the price of imported live pigs is around 11,500 riels, excluding the transportation cost,” he said.
Srun Pov, president of the Cambodia Livestock Raisers Association, said so far he has noticed some commercial pig farms have dropped the price of live pigs to around $3 per kilogrammes. Before they were more than $3.5 a kilogramme.
Pov also noticed that the slaughterhouse and sellers of the pork did not drop the price for consumers. Therefore, they gain more profit. He said the price of live pigs decreases from more than 14,000 riels to around 12,000 riels per kilogramme. However, the price of pork on the market is still high. They are selling from 16,500 to 17,000 riels, while the pork sellers are selling for around 25,000 to 30,000 riels per kilogramme.
“The price of live pigs should be 12,000 to 13,000 riels per kilogramme for farmers, while, all kind of pork should be 20,000 to 30,000 riels a kilogramme on the market. Pig raisers are trying to lower the price, but the slaughterhouse and market prices remain the same,” Pov said. “All sellers and slaughterhouses should lower the price a bit, which is acceptable to all stakeholders: producers, raisers, slaughterers, sellers and buyers,” he added.
Pov added that so far only two local companies – M’s Pig ACMC (Cambodia) Co Ltd and C.P. Cambodia Co Ltd are able to supply live pigs to the market at around 4,000 pigs a day. Now, they are expanding. Therefore, in the next two years, Cambodia will have enough pigs to supply to the market without importing live pigs from neighbouring countries.
Regarding the price of pork on the local market, Sakhon added that his ministry has no role in managing pork prices because it is the role of the Ministry of Commerce, but the ministry has also suggested sellers lower the price of pork on the market because the price of live pigs is lowering.
“The Ministry of Agriculture manage only pig production and animal health. We cannot ask to lower pork prices on the market because this is the role of the Ministry of Commerce,” he said.
Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50735999/pig-prices-in-a-poke/