Although the country has been faced with economic strife in the last year, Vietnamese swine producers have continued to increase overall capacity and production in their operations. This expansion is assisted by governmental support programs as the Vietnamese government subsidizes interest rates on bank loans to swine producers and exempts swine farmers from taxes on land use and on hog sales.

The Council has coordinated training for commercial farm managers and technicians through a swine demonstration farm, workshops, seminars, consultancies and distiller's dried grains with solubles (DDGS) feeding demonstrations. Vietnam's Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development reported 26 million hogs produced in 2008 and predicts output to exceed 27 million hogs in 2009.

Adel Yusupov, USGC regional director in Southeast Asia, said hog production in Viet Nam is shifting from smaller traditional farms to larger commercial operations, creating an increased demand for more feed ingredients. "Viet Nam's dependence on imported feedstuffs like DDGS and corn will increase alongside feed output, which is expected to almost double by 2015. Viet Nam's local corn production is not able to satisfy today's demands," said Mr Yusupov.

Domestic corn production is not increasing at the same rates as consumption, creating a shortage of corn at approximately 1.4 to 1.6 million metric tons (55.1 to 63 million bushels) in 2009. If swine production continues at the current rate and corn production in Viet Nam does not increase, corn import needs in 2010 could reach 3.6 million tons (141.7 million bushels).

USGC Consultant Dr Robert Thaler, professor in the Department of Animal and Range Sciences at South Dakota State University, recently traveled to Viet Nam to assess current market conditions and to examine the potential for exports of US corn and DDGS in the swine sector. Dr Thaler and Mr Yusupov indicated many of the operations visited were already using US DDGS and heard positive feedback about the ethanol co-product as a feed ingredient.

Mr Thaler said, "The producers have a very positive, business-oriented attitude and a lot of good things are happening in the Vietnamese swine sector. The operations we saw are very progressive and will be very competitive long-term."