Although he used to be very confident in the low-cost livestock segment thanks to pigs eating bananas, this year, Duc has to rely on bananas because he thinks that the pig segment will not be profitable.
Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group (HAGL, stock code HAG) has just held an investor meeting in Ho Chi Minh City and informed regarding HAGL’s operation this year.
Mr. Doan Nguyen Duc (elect Duc), Chairman of HAGL Group, frankly acknowledged that in 2023 HAGL’s pig segment will not be profitable when live hog prices are low and purchasing power is weak.
However, German gourd has high expectations for bananas when the price of this fruit is increasing.
HAGL bananas branded Bolaven have a high price in the group of South American banana varieties grown in Vietnam
“The current price of bananas is 11 USD/barrel (13 kg – PV), in the near future it may increase to 13 USD/barrel thanks to China’s opening up and attracting goods.” – HAGL Chairman informed.
HAGL has regarding 10,000 hectares of fruit trees, of which bananas dominate with more than 5,000 hectares. In addition, there are 2,000 hectares of durian, but only a small area has been harvested, so this year’s revenue has not been recorded.
Informing shareholders, elected Duc said that he would plant more corn to actively feed pigs and grow temperate vegetables and fruits to supply to the Bapi Food retail chain.
Previously, in a report to the State Securities Commission and the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange on January 30, HAGL said that HAGL’s following-tax profit in 2022 is VND 1,180 billion, but the profit following tax has not been distributed. At the time of December 31, 2022, it is still negative 3,289.5 billion dong.
Regarding investment projects, HAGL said that its goal in 2023 will be to produce 1 million banana-eating pigs and actively seek more partners to expand production, diversify and improve the quality of pork products. .
“The company expects revenue from banana, pork and chicken products to bring large and fast cash flow for the company to pay off debt and expand its business.” – clearly stated text.
Regarding the price of live pigs, as noted by the livestock industry, during 2022, there is only regarding half a month of pig prices above cost, the rest is mostly at break or capital loss. Even on the occasion of the Lunar New Year 2023, the price of pork has not turned up, only around 50,000 – 55,000 VND/kg.
Meanwhile, the price of bananas is very prosperous. Previously, when bananas were harvested in full swing, there was often a situation of having to sell “rescue” in Ho Chi Minh City, but this situation has not been seen for 2 years.
Mr. Ly Minh Hung, Director of Thanh Binh Cooperative (Dong Nai) specializing in banana exports, said that the price of bananas is at the highest level in the past 3 years, regarding 12,000-14,000 VND/kg (for bananas meeting export standards). and the Chinese market is having the best buying price, higher than both Japan and Korea.
Except for durian, which is a new product officially opened to China, bananas are the outstanding fresh fruit exports in 2022 with a growth rate of up to 34.5% over the previous year. According to customs data, in 2022, Vietnam exported $310.6 million of fresh bananas while dragon fruit and mangoes dropped sharply by 40-50%.
Bananas have the advantage of being a commodity with a long shelf life and businesses are used to exporting by sea, so they are not negatively affected by periods of road congestion at the border.
