Farmers have been pleasant with shrimp exports for one year, and yet recent low prices are canceling the stocking.
The first five months of the year are over but stocking of shrimp in some coastal areas of the Mekong Delta is later than the same period last year. Sóc Trăng is one of the provinces with a large intensive shrimp farm in the Mekong Delta, but just more than 13,500 ha has been stocked by the first week of May, with 11,120 ha of white leg shrimp and 2,370 ha of black tiger shrimp, accounting for 26.5% of the plan and 65% of the same period last year.
According to the Sóc Trăng provincial Sub-department of Fisheries, even though just about 210 ha of shrimp farm is damaged in total, nearly 200 ha less than the same period last year, but the price of commercial shrimp declined sharply. It dropped from 3,000 to 20,000 dong/kg as compared to the same period last year, depending on each shrimp size.
A company in Sóc Trăng buys black tiger shrimp size 50 pcs/kg at 105,000 – 121,000 dong/kg, down 5,000-21,000 dong/kg from the same period last year. Shrimp size 100 pcs/kg is sold at 87,000-102,000 dong/kg, down 3,000-6,000 dong/kg from the same period last year. Such small shrimps are just sold in the domestic market.
Some shrimp traders admitted that the shrimp price nearly hit the bottom in early May. Besides, delay in stocking was attributed to late saltwater flow. Meanwhile, the EHP disease has potential risks.
Chairman of Fimex-VN Hồ Quốc Lực said that the shrimp sector is facing low selling prices amidst high production costs. The global inflation, economic recession, and suppliers of low priced shrimp from Ecuador and India are to blame. Businesses have worked out strategies to deal with difficulties in accordance with their situation. Saving, bringing down prices, improving processing skills, enhancing quality, and introducing new products are what they have been doing.
VASEP has just proposed the Ministry of Industry and Trade to submit to the Government and the State Bank to consider lowering the interest rate of dollars for seafood businesses so that they can continue to purchase domestic materials for production. Lực said that it would be one of solutions to tackle difficulties and a prompt support policy was really needed. He anticipated that there would be good signs in shrimp exports in early quarter 3 after the inventories are cleared.
In Sóc Trăng, the stocking of brackish water shrimp in 2023 was scheduled from Jan 15 to Sep 30. The stocking of white leg shrimps started from Jan 15 to Sep 30 and the stocking of black tiger shrimp started from Mar 15 to Sep 30. As for the shrimp-rice farming model, shrimp must be stocked and harvested by September to prepare for rice cultivation.
VFM
