Soc Trang, Vietnam-based shrimp exporter Fimex (Sao Ta) has returned 100 percent of its workforce back to its processing facilities, following a strict lockdown in Vietnam to fight a severe COVID-19 outbreak.
Vietnam’s entire southern area entered a complete lockdown in July as the country’s worst-ever COVID-19 outbreak swept through the country. However, Fimex was able to keep its processing plants and farms open due to the government’s three-on-site” (3TC) program, whereby workers were permitted to live in Vietnam’s manufacturing facilities so long as they were virus-free and remained isolated. Under the program, Fimex operated with 40 percent of its normal worker count from the middle of July through the middle of August. The company was able to ramp up its employee count through the end of August and the beginning of September, reaching 80 percent capacity on 16 September and full capacity on 21 September.
However, the strict measures imposed across the region to contain the spread of the coronavirus in recent months severely affected Vietnam’s seafood companies. As many as 300,000 seafood workers lost their jobs due to the closure of processing plants in the Mekong Delta over the summer. Similar number of workers in other related sectors in the seafood supply chain also lost their jobs, Thanh Nien Online reported on 17 September, citing Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) Deputy Secretary General Nguyen Hoai Nam.
The region’s seafood-processing capacity has declined by between 65 percent and 70 percent, with some pangasius companies’ processing capacity falling to below 20 percent, a survey by VASEP showed. And Vietnam's shrimp hatcheries are facing numerous operational difficulties, with most forced to curtail operations to varying extents.
The country’s ongoing recovery appears to be uneven. The Mekong Delta provinces of Soc Trang and Bac Lieu have had success in battling the COVID-19 outbreak, benefitting local companies including Fimex, the company said. As a result, its shrimp prices are at “good levels” and the company is able to meet material demand from its processing factories to serve all orders from buyers, Fimex said.
Photo courtesy of Fimex
