HANOI, VIETNAM — Vietnam’s soybean demand fell in 2020 with the outbreak of both the coronavirus (COVID-19) and African swine fever (ASF), according to a Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) report from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

ASF continues to impact animal feed demand in Vietnam but the swine population has seen a 7.7% increase since Jan. 1, 2020. The USDA estimates the country’s feed demand forecast to total 27.1 million tonnes in the 2019-20 marketing year and 28.1 million tonnes in the 2020-21 marketing year.

Due to lowered soybean consumption for food use, the USDA lowered Vietnam’s soybean imports to 1.85 million tonnes in the 2019-20 marketing year and to 2 million tonnes in the 2020-21 marketing year. The restaurant, hotel and school closings during the initial COVID-19 outbreak lowered demand for soybean for food use.

With a recovery from drought, Vietnam’s soybean production in the 2020-21 marketing year is expected to increase. However, domestic soybean cost is not competitive with lower price of imported soybeans for the feed and food processing industry.