HANOI (Reuters): Live pig prices in Vietnam have risen steadily since Typhoon Yagi and subsequent flooding affected several pig farms in the country, which has already been hit by African swine fever outbreaks in recent years.
The typhoon, the strongest storm to hit Asia this year, made landfall in Vietnam's northern provinces early this month, killing nearly 300 people and causing 60.7 trillion dong (US$2.47 billion) of damage to properties, according to the government's disaster agency.
More than 22,500 farmed animals, including pigs, and more than three million poultry have been killed, the agency said.
Live pig prices rose into a range of between 65,000 dong and 70,000 dong ($2.46-$2.85) per kilogram on Thursday in northern provinces, according to data from a Ministry of Industry and Trade newspaper, up from 64,000-67,000 dong before the typhoon and 55,000-58,000 dong a year ago.
"The floods might have also disrupted pork supply chains and prompted some traders to raise their live pig prices," said Nguyen Xuan Duong, chairman of the Animal Husbandry Association of Vietnam.
"However, we are not seeing a pork crisis yet as the typhoon impacts are temporary," Duong said, noting that the number of pigs killed is small compared with the country's hog herd of around 28 million.
The government said in July that African swine fever outbreaks were spreading in Vietnam and could affect its food supplies and put upward pressure on inflation.
"The outbreaks remain today," Duong said, without giving further details. (US$1 = 24,588 dong)
(Reporting by Khanh Vu; Editing by Kirsten Donovan) - Reuters
