The material prices of whiteleg shrimp in Vietnam have increased recently, as production activities in the country have faced difficulties and supply from India has declined, two exporters told SeafoodSource on Tuesday, 10 September.
“The prices are up for all sizes. The bigger sizes, the higher prices,” said Ho Quoc Luc, chairman of Fimex (Sao Ta).
The prices for 35-40 whiteleg shrimp has now gone up by VND 20,000 (USD 0.86, EUR 0.78) per kilogram compared to a month ago, and by about VND 10,000 (USD 0.43, EUR 0.39) per kilogram from a year earlier, Luc said. He added that prices for shrimp of smaller sizes has risen by about VND 10,000 (USD 0.43, EUR 0.39) per kilogram year-on-year and month-on-month.
Le Van Quang, chairman and CEO of Minh Phu, Vietnam’s biggest shrimp company, also said the increase is applied for all sizes. The 15-40 shrimp saw prices increasing at higher levels. Minh Phu now has to buy material shrimp with prices that are 10 percent higher than in early August, and 20 percent higher than in early September last year, Quang said.
Both Luc and Quang attributed the shortage of shrimp of bigger sizes to lower supplies from India.
The outbreak of white feces syndrome has led to the lack of shrimp of bigger sizes from India to global markets. Shrimp production in the country is expected to fall by about 30 percent this year because of this disease, said Luc.
“As India falls short of shrimp of bigger sizes, Chinese traders have turned to Vietnam for alternative supply. That has added to the rising trend of prices in Vietnam,” said Fimex chairman.
On the domestic front, negative weather conditions have made it more difficult for Vietnamese farmers to start their farming seasons. Since mid-July, farmers in Mekong Delta have been reluctant to farm due to heavy rains, resulting in shortage of material for processing plants in the region. Therefore, the processing plants have had to increase purchase prices in order to buy larger volumes for implementing signed export contracts, according to Quang.
Fimex’s Luc said the lower supply of shrimp of smaller sizes in Vietnam was because many local farmers were not keen to start farming due to low prices a few months ago. A number of diseases on shrimp on part of the country’s farming areas has also contributed to the lower production this year.
Luc said he expects the material shortage to continue until year-end. And because of the expected shortage, Vietnam is likely to gain less from exports of shrimp in the last quarter of this year.
Photo courtesy of Minh Phu
