Increasing prices and high demand for shrimp for the upcoming Tet holiday and for export have kept farmers busy preparing for a new crop.
Due to high demand and insufficient domestic supply, shrimp prices have been continuously rising for the past two months. Currently, the 40 count white leg shrimp is priced at 150-160 thousand VND/kg, while 25-30 count is at 180-190 thousand VND/kg, an increase of 30-40 thousand VND/kg compared to 2-3 months ago. Meanwhile, the 15-20 count black tiger shrimp is priced at 330-380 thousand VND/kg, 30-50 thousand VND/kg more than two months ago.
Phan Đức Đạt (An Hải hamlet, Lộc An commune, Đất Đỏ district, Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu province) mentioned that his family has 18 ponds built on a 16,200m2 land. In the previous season, his family harvested 39 tons of white leg shrimp and sold them for 170 thousand VND/kg. With production costs at 120 thousand VND/kg, farmers earned 50 thousand VND/kg profit. “Such price is quite good; it’s just regrettable that there is not more shrimp to sell because the abundant rain increased disease, reducing productivity,” said Đạt.
Nguyễn Kim Chuyên, Director of Quyết Thắng Agricultural Cooperative (Bà Rịa city), stated that shrimp prices are expected to continue rising due to high demand for the end of the year and the New Year. Unfortunately, many farmers currently have no shrimp to sell. Some are worried about losses and have reduced or suspended shrimp farming, while others are selling small shrimp to reduce losses.
According to traders, the sudden and sharp increase in shrimp prices in recent days is attributed to higher consumption and increased demand for exports to Hanoi and some northern provinces and China, all while the supply is limited. Meanwhile, seafood processing companies are focusing on sourcing raw materials to prepare for the year-end and the 2024 Lunar New Year demand.
The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development advises shrimp farmers to stock shrimp at appropriate densities to achieve larger sizes, apply advanced farming technology, and avoid using chemicals and banned antibiotics during the farming process.
Currently, the total shrimp farming area in the province is nearly 2,900 hectares, with tiger shrimp farms accounting for 2,745 hectares (almost 95%). Although the area for white leg shrimp farming is only 5%, its production accounts for 80% of the total shrimp production in the first 11 months of 2023 (7,329/9,141 tons) due to mostly intensive farming techniques.
Rising shrimp prices have led farmers to enthusiastically stock shrimp to meet the market demand. Đạt mentioned that, as usual, he would stock shrimp in 9 ponds, but this year end season, he has increased it to 12 ponds with around 1.4 million breeding stocks.
Quyết Thắng Agricultural Cooperative is also stocking 1 million post larvae on a 5,000m2 water surface. It is expected to harvest about 30 tons of shrimp in this crop, both before and after the Lunar New Year.
According to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the total shrimp output in November 2023 of the province is about 1,012 tons, up nearly 6% from the same period in 2022. This includes 160 tons of tiger shrimp and 852 tons of white leg shrimp. The total shrimp production in the first 11 months of 2023 is 9,141 tons, a 5% increase compared to the same period last year.
VFM
