Shrimp producers in Thailand have had to rely more on material imports due to continuing issues with diseases affecting the country's domestic farming efforts.
Thailand remains the sixth-largest shrimp-farming country in the world, producing around 280,000 metric tons (MT) of shrimp annually. But that figure is down sharply from the 630,000 MT it produced in 2012. The lower domestic output has forced producers to increase imports of material for processing, Thai Shrimp Association President Ekapoj Yodpinit told The Nation.
The reduction in domestic production has resulted in a THB 100 billion (USD 3.1 billion, EUR 2.7 billion) loss in annual export value over the past decade, Yodpinit estimated. Diseases have caused production costs to rise to around THB 160 (USD 5.00, EUR 4.40) per kilogram, which is close to sale price, Yodpinit said.
To revive the industry, the Thai Shrimp Association has asked the Department of Fisheries to find ways to eliminate eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome (EMS), white feces, and red and white spot disease; provide disease-resistant larvae; and create more modern, biosecure protocols for shrimp farming.
The association said the measures are necessary to ensure sufficient supply for processing plants, with the goal of achieving a steady level of shrimp production at around 400,000 MT per year.
For 2022, shrimp production in Thailand is expected to reach 300,000 MT, up 7.1 percent from 2021 and up 11.1 percent from 2020. The Thai Shrimp Association has estimated the country's shrimp-export volume will rise 10 percent in 2022 from its 2021 estimated level of 160,000 MT.
The country’s shrimp-export volume in the first 10 months of 2021 was 128,758 MT, up 4.4 percent year-on-year, with a value of THB 39.3 billion (USD 1.2 billion, EUR 1 billion), the Bangkok Post reported.
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