HCM City cow raisers suffer as milk products cannot sell
Lots of cow farmers in Ho Chi Minh City are struggling after their only partner has put a halt to buying their dairy products, with their predicament worsened by imported milk selling at cheaper prices.
Those in Cu Chi District, 80 percent of whose products are sold to a sole trading partner, Vinamilk, which is the biggest dairy firm in Vietnam, are now suffering many hardships since the state-owned company has decided to stop sourcing their milk.
Nearly 40,000 cows are raised in the district, and about ten thousand have been sold due to milk products having no buyers.
Such issues prompted Dinh La Thang, Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, to press for solutions on February 18.
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After the event, attempts have been made to dig deep into the cause for the firm’s refusal to purchase milk from Cu Chi raisers, Nguyen Huu Hoai Phu, chairman of the Cu Chi People’s Committee, said on Friday.
A report on the total amount of such milk must be submitted by competent agencies for consideration, Phu underlined.
It appears that most of the products which could not be sold were from those who did not sign trading contracts with the firm, he added.
But the cheap prices of imported milk are also to blame, according to a cattle raising expert.
Prices of milk shipped from Australia, New Zealand, and European countries have dropped consecutively in recent times, which are now about VND8,000-10,000 (US$0.4-0.45) per kilo, equal to 60-80 percent of the current milk quote in Vietnam, the expert elaborated.
It is expected that dairy companies will be invited by local authorities to find ways for supporting and guiding these farmers to grow qualified cows and help them sell their products.