Hanoi (VNA) - The animal feed industry of Vietnam, despite being among the world’s fastest-growing by scale and output, is dominated by foreign firms while local producers are struggling to compete.
According to Nguyen Xuan Duong, deputy director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Department of Livestock Production, the animal feed industry maintained two-digit growth in the past two decades, with the output jumping from 400,000 tonnes in 1993 to more than 23 million tonnes in 2016.
However, the rapid expansion of foreign producers in Vietnam is posing threat to local firms.
Hoang Huong Giang from the ministry’s Animal Husbandry Department said there were 218 animal feed plants in Vietnam, with an average monthly capacity of 28,200 tonnes. Of these, 71 are foreign firms, with an average monthly capacity of more than 15,700 tonnes and hold a market share of some 65 percent.
Lich said the market share of local producers was in danger of narrowing down even as local producers were expanding. “It is important to adjust strategies to compete,” he said.
Lich said foreign firms had stronger financial capacity, experience, modern production line and especially appropriate distribution strategies to expand their market.
According to Hoang Thanh Van, director of the Animal Husbandry Department, animal feed production requires high technology and huge investment, in which local producers are often weaker than FDI companies.
Doan Viet Cuong, general director of Adeco, said domestic producers must promote the export of animal feed as production capacity exceeds the local demand.-VNA