As Tet Nguyen Dan approaches, the market for traditional dried goods such as dried shrimp, dried fish, and dried squid becomes bustling again. However, this year, Tet dried goods prices have simultaneously increased due to scarce raw materials, production costs and labor costs.
According to records at many dried fish production facilities in the Mekong Delta provinces, the output produced this year has decreased significantly. Mr. Ma Van Hong - Director of Hoa De Agriculture and Fisheries Cooperative (Hoa Tu commune, Can Tho city) - said that this Tet holiday, his family only produced about more than 2 tons of fresh fish for dried fish and a few hundred kg of dried shrimp, a significant decrease compared to previous years. The reason is the sharp increase in raw material prices.
In previous years, we stored a lot, but this year the price of raw materials is too high compared to last year, so we don't dare to do much," Mr. Hong shared.
According to Mr. Hong, last year the price of type 1 dried shrimp increased from 1.2 - 1.3 million VND/kg to about 1.5 million VND/kg; type 2 from 800,000 VND/kg to about 1.05 million VND/kg. The price of dried tilapia also increased from 340,000 VND/kg to about 380,000 VND/kg. In addition to raw materials, labor costs also increased, from 15,000 VND/hour to 20,000 VND/hour.
Although the source of raw materials is still guaranteed, due to high prices and unpredictable fluctuations, the facility only stockpiles a moderate amount of goods to sell for Tet," Mr. Hong said.
This year's dry Tet consumption market is still mainly concentrated in major provinces and cities such as Can Tho City, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Tay Ninh. In addition to regular retail, some products are also ordered as Tet gift baskets according to customer requirements.
Mr. Le Lac Lam, residing in Tran De commune (Can Tho City), said that this year shrimp purchasing is facing many difficulties because many farming households have crop failures, and the source of goods is sometimes available and sometimes not, unstable.
According to Mr. Lam, to make 1 kg of dried shrimp, it takes 5-6 kg of fresh shrimp. Fresh white leg shrimp this year has a price ranging from 170,000 - 19,000 VND/kg, depending on size. After being cut and dried for one to two days in the sun, finished dried shrimp products are sold at prices ranging from 800,000 VND to more than 1 million VND/kg, mainly according to orders, and some orders are even sent abroad.
Ms. Ngan - a dry goods business household in Ca Mau province - said that this year's dried shrimp prices increased sharply due to high input material costs. Specifically, the price of fresh raw shrimp, natural land shrimp, has increased by about 100,000 VND/kg compared to last year. Currently, large land shrimp costs about 200,000 VND/kg, and small shrimp costs about 170,000 VND/kg.
According to Ms. Ngan, to produce 1 kg of dried shrimp, about 8 kg of fresh shrimp are needed. Meanwhile, the source of natural land shrimp is increasingly scarce, causing raw material prices to increase, forcing production facilities and small traders to adjust the selling price of dried shrimp to compensate for costs. Currently, the price of type 1 dried shrimp ranges from 1.4 - 1.7 million VND.
Although selling prices have increased, purchasing power in the market is rated higher than every year. Many times there are not enough goods to sell to customers," Ms. Ngan shared.
Not only dried shrimp, dried squid are also items with strong price increases in the Tet market this year.
Mr. Nguyen Hoang Tanh - owner of Thao Nguyen dried squid facility (Tran De commune, Can Tho city) - said that large dried squid currently costs from 1.3 million to more than 1.4 million VND/kg, an increase from tens of thousands to nearly 200,000 VND/kg compared to before. The main reason is that the exploitation output at the end of the year is not enough to meet demand, while many fishing boats choose to sell squid directly at sea.
Also recorded, Ms. Ngan - a dry goods business household in Ca Mau province - said that the price of dried squid has also been adjusted up by about 150,000 VND/kg. Currently, large types, about 7-10 fish/kg, are being sold at prices ranging from more than 1.2 million to 1.4 million VND/kg.
