The price of pork products in Ho Chi Minh City will continue to fall sharply because of an abundant supply, according to official sources.

On 24 December, Vissan Co last cut pork prices by VND2,000 per kilo over last week, and frozen meat prices by five per cent. San Miguel Co also cut prices by VND2,000 per kilo. The prices of best-selling pork products at supermarkets such as Citimart, Coopfood and Maximark have been reduced by 10 to 15 per cent. At the wholesale markets, pork prices are VND2,000 to 3,000 cheaper at VND37,000 to 42,000 per kilo.

Customer Tran Thanh Lan of District 8 said pork prices in retail markets were VND3,000 to 5,000 per kilo lower than the supermarkets' prices.

Supply has increased considerably at the markets, especially in Binh Dien and Hoc Mon wholesale markets.

Tran Quang Trung, owner of a breeding farm in Dong Nai Province, said live pork prices had fallen from VND37,000 to VND33,000-34,000 per kilo.

Tran Van Hac, business director of CP Company, one of the key pork suppliers for the Ho Chi Minh City market and nearby provinces, said the increased supply was due to large shipments of pork from the north.

According to market analysts, lower consumption of pork in the Chinese market has led to the rise in additional supply from the north.

The price of live pork in the northern region's breeding farms is VND31,000 to 32,000 per kilo. Traders transport them to the southern region for sale, aiming to earn high profit.

Phung Khoi Phuc, director of Dong Nai Foodstuff Factory, said it would be difficult to increase prices to VND44,000 to 46,000 per kilo as last year.

Price cuts will cause losses for breeding farms, which are already incurring higher costs for feed. Each breeder could incur a loss of about VND100,000 for each pig sold, Mr Phung added.