Thai swine producers fall behind those in Vietnam

Among Asian countries, Thailand once trailed only China in terms of swine production. However, the economic crisis has caused a large drop in the price of pork and the incomes of local farmers. They now have less money to spend on quality breeds and pig-genetics services from the UK.

China accounts for almost 48 per cent of the world's swine production.

In Asia, excluding China, Thailand has slipped from the lead position and been replaced by Vietnam, which is seeing sustainable growth in domestic pork consumption of about 5 per cent a year. Vietnamese farmers, supported by the government, are buying pig semen from the UK to improve their breeds, Jackson said.

Pig breeders in the UK resumed exports to Thailand and other markets in Asia in 2003, after tackling a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak that had affected pig farms since 2000. With oversupply in the domestic UK market, pig companies in the UK now rely heavily on these exports, shipping about 1.6 million kilograms of pig breeding stock to Asia alone each year.

"In addition to important markets such as Ukraine and Russia, which import a very large amount of breeding stock, Asia is still a major market for us," said Jackson.

The British Pig Association represents breeding companies and pedigree breeders in the UK. Its responsibility is to represent local farmers and promote their breeds in potential markets all over the world. There are about 1,400 breeders registered with the association, which works closely with the British government on legislative matters affecting the pig industry in the UK, Jackson said.

Despite the Thai industry being surpassed by Vietnam, Bangkok maintains a significant role as the trading centre for Southeast Asia, he said.

Jackson gave the example of ACMC, the UK-based world leader in pig genetics, which has a production base in Thailand. It also has a breeding unit in Cambodia.

"We have used Bangkok as a centre to serve the Southeast Asia region," he said.

Jackson said the association would assist Thailand in the development of a local genetics programme so that the country could become a more efficient producer of high-quality meats.

From March 11 to 13, VIV Asia-Pacific organised VIV Asia 2009, a bi-annual trade event for the livestock industry, at Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Centre.

VIV project manager Ruwan Berculo said 568 exhibitors from all over the world participated in the event. Among these were 102 from China, 52 from the Netherlands, 51 from the US, 50 from Thailand and 28 from the UK. The event attracted about 20,000 visitors.

The British Pig Association brought along representatives from six major pig breeders and two cattle breeders from the UK to attend the show, Jackson said.

This is the first time cattle breeders from the UK have participated in such a trade event in Asia. UK breeders spent about a decade on the exporting sidelines following the outbreak of BSE, or "mad cow disease", in the mid-1990s. They resumed exporting cattle breeds two years ago.

"They [cattle breeders] were very impressed with the show and the contacts they made," said Jackson.

Numerous trade deals were negotiated during the show, Jackson said.

Among these, Taiwan plans to send a delegation to the UK in October to purchase breeding stock, he said. Also, a company from China is negotiating with a local breeder in the UK to form a joint venture. Two big importers from Japan, meanwhile, signed contracts to purchase premium-quality meats from UK breeders.

Kiddivong Sombuntham, secretary-general of the Swine Raisers' Association of Thailand, said the sow population in Thailand had dropped by a significant 20 per cent from last year to about 800,000. Many local farmers are struggling due to increased prices for raw materials and animal feed, he said.

Last year, farmers actually lost between Bt100 and Bt200 per pig, he said. While the price of live pigs increased to about Bt53 per kg last year, production costs increased even more to about Bt55 per kg.

Farmers were able to achieve a profit this year when the price of live pigs increased to between Bt57 and Bt59 per kg.

Kiddivong urged the government to pay serious attention to addressing local farmers' needs. These include supply and demand management; financial assistance, including tax breaks on imports of raw materials and animal feed; and the creation of state abattoirs and breed development centres, he said.