Shrimp farmers in Bangladesh are facing losses due to a sharp decline in prices.
Many are selling black tiger shrimp into the domestic market at discount prices due to a slump in exports, The Daily Star reported 4 December.
Shrimp farming is a primary income source for thousands of farmers in the main shrimp-producing region of Bangladesh - Khulna, Satkhira, and Bagerhat - in the southwestern part of the country. Around 90 percent of shrimp produced in the region is exported, with Europe accounting for the biggest share of Bangladesh's exports.
More than 250 shrimp farmers in Khalashibunia village in Khulna received loans from banks or microfinance institutions to grow shrimp. But low shrimp prices have resulted in recent losses, local union council member Pabitra Roy, who is also a local shrimp farmer, said. Roy blamed global inflation for a decline in global demand for shrimp.
Biprodas Bairagi, who runs a semi-intensive shrimp farm in Choksoilmari village of Batiaghata upazila in Khulna, said shrimp prices have fallen sharply over the last two months after reaching between BDT 1,260 and BDT 1,350 (USD 12.30 and USD 13.20, EUR 11.70 and EUR 12.60) per kilogram for medium-sized shrimp and between BDT 950 and BDT 1,100 (USD 9.30 and USD 10.70, EUR 8.90 and EUR 10.30) per kilogram for smaller-sized shrimp in the first week of September. His shrimp is now selling at between BDT 730 and BDT 800 (USD 7.10 and USD 7.80, EUR 6.80 and EUR 7.40) per kilogram, down sharply from between BDT 1,200 and BDT 1,300 (USD 11.70 and USD 12.70, EUR 11.20 and EUR 12.10) per kilogram in 2021.
Even with reduced prices, many buyers are no longer purchasing shrimp directly from farmers as before, forcing several of them to sell the shrimp into local markets or to frozen food companies at lower prices to reduce losses, according to Bairagi.
"Buyers did not show any interest in buying shrimp from our ponds. So we were bound to sell at lower prices," Bairagi said.
At least five local businessmen told the newspaper they have suspended puchases of shrimp due to declining exports.
Insan Ali, a businessman in Khulna, said many exporters have not been able to export shrimp for almost two months now, and have subsequently lowered their purchase prices.
Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters Association Director Tariqul Islam Zahir, who is also the managing director of Achia Sea Foods Limited, said the drop in shrimp prices in Bangladesh is due to a drop in global demand.
"Due to higher inflation, we are not getting orders. Prices have fallen as the risk of the world falling into recession is growing," Zahir said.
Thousands of farmers are “in a dire situation” due to the decline in shrimp prices, according to Bagerhat District Fisheries Officer ASM Sohel.
Photo courtesy of Sk Hasan Ali/Shutterstock
