Seafood exports, including shrimp, continue to maintain growth momentum. However, in the Mekong Delta, farmers and exporters are facing many difficulties. The most prominent are unfavorable weather, diseases, unstable raw shrimp sources, and high logistics costs.
When asked about the plan for the new shrimp crop, Mr. Tran The Dinh (a shrimp farmer in Thanh Thoi Thuan commune, Tran De district, Soc Trang province) was disappointed: "No one in this area cares about releasing shrimp now, out of 10 farming households, only 5 households release shrimp. Continuous losses, then debt, out of capital, people would rather leave their ponds empty than dare to start the new crop."
According to Mr. Dinh, the price of shrimp purchased by traders last season was too low, the type with more than 100 shrimp/kg was only over 50,000 VND/kg, the type with less than 100 shrimp/kg was only nearly 70,000 VND/kg. Meanwhile, on average, each ton of shrimp needs 1.1 tons of feed, with a price of nearly 50 million VND (if purchased on credit), about 40 million VND (if purchased in cash), not to mention medicine, electricity, land rent (if rented land), and diseases... Therefore, farmers are only losing money!
Meanwhile, farmer Phan Van Queo (residing in Thanh Phu district, Ben Tre province) said that white feces disease in shrimp in recent days has made many high-tech shrimp farming households restless, newly released shrimp died of the disease. Currently, many farmers have to re-treat their ponds. Since the beginning of September 2024, the situation of "suspending ponds" has been happening to many shrimp farming households in localities in the Mekong Delta such as Ca Mau, Bac Lieu, Soc Trang, Ben Tre... The main reason is that raw shrimp prices fluctuate strongly, while the costs of seeds, feed, and medicine are always high. In addition, partly because of losses and running out of capital from the previous crop, combined with the complicated shrimp disease situation, farmers are hesitant to invest in the new crop.
Trader Huynh Phu Cuong (specializing in supplying raw shrimp for shrimp processing factories for export in Ca Mau province) said that the current price of 30 white-leg shrimp per kg is 170,000 VND/kg; 50 shrimp per kg is 122,000 VND/kg; 100 shrimp per kg is 93,000 VND/kg... This price is higher than the same period last year and farmers are making a profit. However, people do not have much shrimp to sell at present. The reason is that because shrimp prices have been low for a long time, many people have suspended their ponds.
Shrimp processing factories for export in the Mekong Delta are also facing a shortage of raw materials. A shrimp processing enterprise for export in Ca Mau City (Ca Mau Province) shared: It is currently the peak season for production to serve export orders to the US and EU markets, but the lack of raw shrimp sources has caused difficulties for businesses.
Localities in the West are providing necessary instructions for farmers to proactively cope with unusual weather and prevent diseases such as: designing ponds according to a multi-stage rearing model, with water circulation, lining with siphon holes at the bottom of the pond; choosing breeds from reputable, branded facilities with clear origins and facilities, with certificates of facilities qualified to produce and raise aquatic breeds, breeds with quarantine certificates and must be tested for disease-free.
According to Mr. To Minh Duong, Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Bac Lieu province, the locality is supporting processing and exporting enterprises to increase investment in technology and equipment innovation and expand production scale, shift export structure towards concentration, link development of products with competitive advantages, high added value, apply clean technology to improve product quality, increase value and competitiveness for shrimp products. At the same time, encourage enterprises to invest in processing and exporting new products, deeply processed product lines to new markets, diversify products; comply with regulations in export markets... This is also the common goal of the seafood industry, including the shrimp industry of the Mekong Delta.
According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), in the first 8 months of 2024, seafood export turnover reached nearly 6.3 billion USD, up nearly 9% over the same period last year. Of which, shrimp export turnover reached nearly 2.4 billion USD, up 9% over the same period.
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Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/dong-bang-song-cuu-long-no-luc-go-kho-cho-nganh-hang-tom-post759282.html
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