Shrimp industry needs solutions to achieve export target this year (Photo: vasep.com.vn)In the beginning of June, shrimp selling prices plummeted by about 40% comparedto April. Meanwhile, the cost of shrimp seed and feed increased. Those factorshave caused shrimp farmers in the Mekong Delta to suffer heavy losses.
In the farming ponds of farmers in the coastal provinces of Tien Giang, TraVinh, Ben Tre, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, Ca Mau and Kien Giang, the selling price ofshrimp fell from 150,000 VND per kilo in April to 95,000 VND in the beginningof June. The price of white-leg shrimp is now at 65,000-75,000 VND per kilo,down 38% compared to two months ago.
According to the Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), thedecline in selling prices of raw shrimp is due to the plunge in exports. Exportorders in the shrimp industry have decreased by 20-50% and inventories haveincreased. Those factors have forced shrimp processing enterprises to reducethe purchase of raw shrimp.
Shrimp exports in the first five months of 2023 only reached 1.22 billion USD,down 34.4% over the same period last year. The purchasing power of shrimp inthe two main markets, the EU and the US, fell sharply due to high inflation.China reopened from January, but the shrimp exports to this market stilldecreased by 40% compared to the same period in 2022.
Localities with large shrimp farming areas, such as Ca Mau, Bac Lieu and Soc Trang,have recently seen many factors to make farmers not re-farm shrimp, includingthe decrease of the shrimp selling prices, prolonged unfavourable weather conditions,diseases in shrimp farms and high production costs.
Vo Quan Huy, chairman of My Thanh Shrimp Association in Soc Trang, told nhadautu.vn that shrimp farmers arecurrently facing difficulties because input costs, especially the price ofshrimp feed, have increased very quickly, but the selling prices of raw shrimphave fallen. That situation has caused farmers to have losses and lack capitalto farm shrimp again.
Vo Van Phuc, general director of Vietnam Organic Seafood Joint Stock Company,said that while the selling price of shrimp is falling sharply, input costssuch as the price of feed, seed and other materials have continuously increasedto 70,000-100,000 VND per kilo. Transport costs are also high due to poorinfrastructure.
According to Huy, to remove the difficulties for the shrimp industry, besidesthe efforts of shrimp farmers, the State needs to have supportive measures intechnology application and digital transformation, and increase credit capitalfor re-production.
There are many establishments supplying shrimp seed, but the quality is notuniform. Therefore, management agencies need to develop standards for shrimpseed suppliers and the suppliers must provide transparent information on thequality of seed, Huy said.
Ho Quoc Luc, chairman of Sao Ta Food Joint Stock Company and former VASEPchairman, said that the most difficult thing in the shrimp industry now is thelow selling price and the high production cost of shrimp.
Enterprises now must reduce costs, improve processing levels, diversifyproducts, increase product quality and seek new markets.
Large-scale shrimp farming areas supply only about 10% of the total annualshrimp production, while 90% of total production is supplied by householdfarmers with small-scale production. Therefore, farmers need support in termsof capital, infrastructure, seed and market information, Luc said.
He also said that stopping the production of seed due to the losses of shrimpfarmers will create negative impacts in the shrimp industry's supply chain.
Nguyen Van Truong, chairman and general director of Cafatex Seafood ExportJoint Stock Company, said this situation may lead to processing factorieslacking raw materials when Vietnam’s seafood export market recovers.
The General Department of Fisheries under the Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment said that to achieve the target of shrimp export turnover of 4.3billion USD in 2023, the agricultural sector has set a target of cultivatingabout 750,000 hectares of brackish water shrimp with an output of more than onemillion tonnes. However, the progress of stocking shrimp has been slower thanplanned due to market difficulties and unpredictable shrimp prices.
To promote shrimp exports by year end, it is necessary to havemeasures to stabilise the input prices for shrimp farming, according toexperts.
In addition, it is necessary to promulgate mechanisms andpolicies, especially on capital support, to form regions producing rawmaterials for processing shrimp feed, which would reduce dependence on importedraw materials.
According to Kim Thu, VASEP's shrimp market expert, the US isstill the largest importer of Vietnamese shrimp. Meanwhile, Japan surpassedChina to reach the second position with nearly 150 million USD of Vietnameseshrimp import value in the first four months of the year, followed by China andthe Republic of Korea importing over 100 million USD of Vietnamese shrimp each.
Northwest European countries also increased their demand for shrimp imports. Tostand firm in the European market, shrimp enterprises need to meet its strictrequirements on food safety. The EU is Vietnam’s fourth largest shrimpimporter, accounting for about 14%.
Shrimp is Vietnam’s main export seafood product with annual export turnoveraccounting for over 40% of the national total seafood export turnover. Vietnamhas exported shrimp to 100 countries, including the five largest markets of theUS, Japan, China, the EU and the RoK./.
VNA
