The feed organization received funding from the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) through its emerging markets program to support the market assessment.
The association focused on Vietnam as a market for potential expansion for several reasons, said Gina Tumbarello, director of international policy and trade with the AFIA. The country is experiencing strong growth in income and population along with livestock production, she said.
“Vietnam’s livestock animal feed consumption has risen significantly over the past decades from 3.5 million metric tons (MMT) in 2013 to 4.5 MMT in 2018,” she told us. “The livestock sector in Vietnam is one of the fastest-growing subsectors.”
The country’s market for animal feed additives is anticipated to reach $160.5m in 2022, an increase from $112.45m in 2014, the AFIA said. The market is forecast to have a compound annual growth rate of more than 4.7% through 2022.
There has been a growing demand for animal proteins including milk and eggs, which supported expanding livestock and poultry production and the intensification of production practices, Tumbarello said.
Currently, pork dominates the market in Vietnam – the country is the second-largest consumer of pork in Asia, following China – and accounts for about 72.6% of the animal production, she said. Poultry accounts for about 18% of production followed by beef at 6.2% and buffalo at 1.8%.
However, the outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) in February has reduced swine production and limited the demand for swine feed, she said. “There has been a growing trend in Vietnam towards poultry consumption with the poultry population increasing faster than average between 2007 and 2017,” she added.
Evaluating Vietnam’s feed market
The AFIA’s market assessment included dialogue with members of the US industry that have been successful in working with the market in Vietnam, said Tumbarello.
“We will also meet with the relevant Vietnamese government agencies that have oversight of animal production and animal food as well as visit livestock, poultry and aquaculture operations in Vietnam,” she added.
“In conducting the market assessment, we hope to identify opportunities for the US animal food industry in Vietnam in the livestock, poultry and aquaculture industries,” Tumbarello said. “We are aiming to build current, reliable and comprehensive information about Vietnam’s market access requirements for US animal food products and establish a roadmap for overcoming market access barriers.”
The goal of the market assessment is to “thoroughly identify” the primary barriers to the country’s feed market, like sanitary and phytosanitary concerns, she said. “At this time, we are aware of GMO restrictions and maximum residue levels (MRL) standards that are posing challenges to our industry.”
The government in Vietnam established an agricultural restricting plan that also addressed livestock in 2014, she said. Part of that plan seeks to change “the livestock population’s distribution in the farming system.”
“Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development approved the livestock sector restructuring and implementation plan aimed at increasing livestock production efficiency and competitiveness,” she said.
The assessment is anticipated to take about six months, according to AFIA information.
“Our goal is to complete the market assessment and identification of opportunities and recommendations for addressing these opportunities in time to include programs in Vietnam in our proposal to the FAS next year,” Tumbarello added.
