Phung Duy Linh, strategy director of Trung Dong Ltd Co in Dong Nai Province, said the company has imported around 13,000 Australian cows since early this year.
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| A cow farm of Ket Phat Thinh Joint Stock Co. Cow imports from Australia have dipped this year as domestic supply has grown and local firms have stepped up imports from other markets |
Cow imports from Australia have declined this year as domestic supply has improved and local firms have imported more cows from other markets, according to traders.
Vo Xuan Hoa, chief executive officer of Ket Phat Thinh Joint Stock Co, one of the major importers of Australian cows, said the company has bought less than 10,000 Australian cows since the Lunar New Year holiday (Tet), dropping 20% year-on-year. These cows weighing 350-400 kilos each will be raised at farms within three to four months before they go to slaughterhouses.
Hoa said around this time last year the company, which is based in the Mekong Delta province of in Long An, distributed 300-350 cows a day nationwide on normal days but the current number is only 200.
Phung Duy Linh, strategy director of Trung Dong Ltd Co in Dong Nai Province, said the company has imported around 13,000 Australian cows since early this year.
Though the Bien Hoa City-based company has steadily imported cows from Australia since its establishment in 2011, the number of Australian cows imported into Vietnam this year has waned, Linh said.
Linh ascribed the decline to a pickup in cow imports from Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, and in domestic supply.
Hoa of Ket Phat Thinh said local farmers have invested more in farming high-quality cows. In addition, the number of cows imported from Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand has surged.
“Australian cow orders by local importers have shown signs of slowing down after a period of strong import. Cow importers are now keeping a close watch on market demand,” Linh said.
Hoa said lower demand has lead to a reduction in prices of Australian cows. The current price is US$2.8 per kilo, well below US$3-3.05 per kilo last year, due to an ample domestic supply of more than 100,000 cows and the fact that Indonesian importers have demanded lower import prices of Australian cows.
Hoa said Indonesia is the largest importer of Australian cows with 700,000 head last year, followed by Vietnam with 360,000 head. Australian cow exporters have offered lower prices for Vietnamese importers as they have done to Indonesian importers.
Hoa said with the current market demand and prices, the company expects to import around 72,000 Australian cows this year. If imported cows are taken good care of, the company can earn monthly profit of VND500,000 (US$22.3) a cow so importing cows and raising them for a while is no longer an attractive business way as risks are high.
Importers of cows are coping with tougher competition with imported frozen beef as prices of this product are competitive and importers face less risk than cow importers do.
(Source:SGT)
