Raw shrimp prices plummet

Shrimp farmers in Tien Giang and Ca Mau provinces are worried about losses as shrimp prices have dropped by 30% in one month.

Surveys show that shrimp prices are continuously plummeting. Traders are buying 100 shrimp per kilogram for 70,000-80,000 VND, down 30% compared to last month. The price of 30-40 shrimp per kilogram has also dropped 20%, to only 108,000-35,000 VND. Meanwhile, investment costs for shrimp farming, especially for high-tech farming households, have skyrocketed.

Mr. Minh in Bac Lieu (Ca Mau) said he cultivates 4 sao of shrimp, but with the price reduced by 20-30%, his pond is not profitable. "I try to cut down on all costs, buy food with cash so I don't have to pay interest, but with this price, I risk losing money," said Mr. Minh.

Mr. Trong in Tien Giang, a high-tech shrimp farmer, also admitted that at this price, he and other households also lost tens of millions to hundreds of millions of dong.

In the same situation, on shrimp farming forums, farmers in Soc Trang and Tra Vinh shared that they are also "sitting on fire" because the price of this seafood has dropped sharply. Many households are trying to maintain and wait for the price to turn around, but for more than a week now there has been no sign of improvement.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said the reason why prices of black tiger shrimp and white-leg shrimp have continuously decreased over the past month is that export markets have been slow to consume while supply has increased.

According to VASEP, the decline in exports has caused difficulties for many domestic enterprises. Shrimp purchasing power in the two main markets, the EU and the US, has continued to decline sharply due to high inflation. The Chinese market has reopened but exports have continued to decline. According to Customs, in the first quarter of the year, Vietnam's shrimp exports to China reached over 54 million USD, down 40% compared to the same period in 2022.

At traditional markets in Ho Chi Minh City, the price of commercial shrimp has also dropped sharply. The 30-per-kilo type has dropped by 40,000 VND to 140,000-170,000 VND, the 40-per-kilo type is only 117,000 VND, and the 60-per-kilo type is 95,000 VND.

Thi Ha

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