Vietnam’s top shrimp company, Minh Phu Seafood, has decided to invest more in its large-scale farming area in southern Vietnam to increase the share of its own supply.
On 25 March, the company’s board of directors approved a plan to increase the charter capital of its subsidiary Minh Phu Kien Giang by VND 380 billion (USD 16.2 million, EUR 14.7 million) to VND 820 billion (USD 34.8 million, EUR 31.8 million).
The funds will be allocated in two phases, the first of which entailing VND 145 billion (USD 6.2 million, EUR 5.6 million) to be invested as soon as possible, the company said in a statement. The second phase of VND 235 billion (USD 10 million, EUR 9.1 million) will be used to build ponds after reviewing the results of Minh Phu’s new shrimp farming technology, the “2-3-4 technology” method, in Minh Phu Kien Giang in Kien Giang Province and Minh Phu Loc An in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province.
“The increase of investment capital in Minh Phu Kien Giang is part of Minh Phu’s strategy to boost the share of the company’s own material supply to between 50 to 70 percent of the total material need in the coming years, from an expected share of 15 percent this year” Minh Phu Chairman and CEO Le Van Quang told SeafoodSource.
Quang did not say whether the COVID-19 pandemic will cause any impacts to Minh Phu’s farming expansion plans. As with other exporters, Minh Phu is facing difficulties in its export business, resulting in higher stockpiles.
The CEO said last year Minh Phu plans to begin raising shrimp in about 1,000 ponds in 600 hectares in Kien Giang by 2021. The company also targets to open more than 4,000 ponds across 2,500 hectares in the province by 2025.
In Loc An, Minh Phu also expects to apply the “2-3-4 technology” in all 1,500 ponds there in 2021.
Minh Phu inked deal to sell a 35.1 percent stake to Japan’s Mitsui in May 2019. One month later, the company said the majority of the VND 3.038 trillion (USD 130 million, EUR 115.9 million) it got from the deal would be allocated to aid its business operations.
