Good news
According to VASEP, with the current growth momentum, by the end of the year, the Vietnamese seafood industry can complete the export target of 10 billion USD, an increase of 11.5% compared to 2023. In particular, shrimp and pangasius will continue to be the two main pillars contributing to this success, with shrimp forecast to reach 4 billion USD and pangasius possibly reaching 2 billion USD.
Raw shrimp prices continued to increase, especially for shrimp sized 50 pieces/kg, with an increase of up to 6%, reaching VND 155,000/kg in mid-November. This is the highest price of this type of shrimp since the end of 2021. Prices of shrimp sized 100 pieces/kg also remained stable, ranging from VND 85,000 to VND 90,000/kg.
Not only whiteleg shrimp, black tiger shrimp prices have also recorded a sharp increase since the beginning of October, especially large sizes, with prices equivalent to those of early 2024. However, due to limited supply of large shrimp, shrimp processing plants have shifted their focus to smaller shrimp, pushing up prices of these shrimp.
Businesses and farmers are worried.
Mr. Ho Quoc Luc - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sao Ta Food Joint Stock Company, Soc Trang - said that raw shrimp has increased sharply since mid-August, but there are not many shrimp farmers left due to the impact of low prices since the beginning of the year, high material prices...
According to Mr. Luc, raw shrimp will still be in short supply until the end of the first quarter of next year. During this period, processing enterprises face great challenges because they have to buy raw shrimp at high prices, but the price of finished shrimp for consumption is fiercely competitive with cheaper shrimp from many countries, leading to a decline in production and business efficiency.
In Ca Mau, which has the largest shrimp farming area in the country with more than 280,000 hectares, in recent times, along with negative impacts both subjective and objective, the shrimp farming industry in the province has faced many difficulties and challenges.
According to the authorities, the impact of climate change and unusual weather changes, leading to diseases in farmed shrimp, is still occurring.The environment in the shrimp farming area has not been well controlled, and the water source for shrimp farming is polluted.The price of input materials always tends to increase, while the price of raw shrimp has sometimes decreased sharply, especially the price of white-leg shrimp.
Besides, the application of science and technology is still limited, the infrastructure serving development has not fully met the demand for shrimp farming as well as the potential for development of this industry.
In Bac Lieu, shrimp productivity and export value both exceeded the target compared to 2023. However, currently, not many people have shrimp left to sell.
Mr. Long Quang Nghia - a shrimp farmer in Bac Lieu city, Bac Lieu province - said that there needs to be a change in management of the entire shrimp industry to avoid the situation where during the peak harvest season, shrimp prices drop, and when people run out of shrimp, prices skyrocket again.
The Vietnamese shrimp industry has built a value chain for a long time; many solutions have been proposed at conferences, but it seems that the production linkage from production to consumption has not been as effective as expected.
