BINH PHUOC, VIETNAM — New Hope Liuhe, a Chinese feed producer, is planning to build a feed mill to supply its first overseas pig farm in Vietnam, Binh Phuoc, according to euronews.

The mill is to supply feed to the herd in order to “reduce the  risk of exposing feed to viruses in the open air and during transport.”

Vietnam’s pig industry has recently had issues with the African swine fever (ASF) outbreak. According to a June 20 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) report, the disease spread to 58 out of 63 municipalities and provinces across the country with 2,637,051 pigs depopulated, equal to nearly 9.4% of the country’s total swine population.

“Although there is no human health risk, ASF is already influencing consumer purchasing behavior,” the report said. “Given the complexity of the ASF situation, it may take a significant amount of time before Vietnam can control the disease and fully repopulate its swine herds.”

According to euronews, New Hope has provided the Binh Phuoc pig farm with sanitization and disinfectant systems in order to upgrade its biosecurity efforts.

It is expected that the Vietnam-based pig farm will increase the company’s pig feed sales by 90,000 tonnes per year in the country.

New Hope Liuhe Co., Ltd. is a China-based company specializing in animal feed, livestock and food processing. It is also an affiliate of New Hope Group. It sells 15 million tons of feed to 250,000 users per year.

New Hope Liuhe was formed in 2005 through a merger between New Hope Group (established in 1982) and Liuhe Group (established in 1995).

New Hope Liuhe has grown its operations into animal feed, livestock breeding and raising, meat processing and financial investments. The company operates across China and in 20 other countries and regions, including Vietnam, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Egypt. New Hope Liuhe controls nearly 500 branch and subsidiary companies and employs approximately 60,000 people.