The prices of pangasius and whiteleg shrimp in Vietnam have rebounded in the first days of August following a drop in previous months.
Nam Viet Joint Stock Company (Navico) said in a note on 7 August that the price of its raw material bounced back to VND 22,000 (USD 0.95, EUR 0.84) per kilogram in the early days of this month, from some VND 19,500 (USD 0.84, EUR 0.75) per kilogram in July.
Navico said it expects prices to increase gradually through year-end. The selling prices to its customers in August also rose compared to previous months, said Navico. Navico’s July export turnover went up 25.4 percent year-on-year to USD 11.8 million (EUR 10.5 million).
“Currently, all purchase orders for August and September have fulfilled our factories productivity. It is expected that quantity will continue to increase in the next several months,” the company said.
Data from Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) and the Export and Import Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade also showed the recovery of pangasius prices, but with lower ranges.
VASEP said the pond price in Dong Thap Province in Mekong Delta in the week ending 8 August was around VND 21,000 (USD 0.9, EUR 0.8)/ kilogram for smaller size of 0.7 to 0.8 kilogram-sized fish, 2.4 percent higher than the VND 20,500 (USD 0.88, EUR 0.79) per kilogram in the previous week ending 1 August.
The raw material prices started to increase in late July. The rate in An Giang Province in the week ending 25 July was about VND 20,580 (USD 0.89, EUR 0.79) per kilogram, higher than VND 20,300 (USD 0.87, EUR 0.78) per kilogram the previous week, according to data from the export and import department released on 31 July.
Local media reported in early July that in An Giang, Dong Thap provinces and Can Tho City, processing plants were paying VND19,000 to VND 20,000 (USD 0.82 to USD 0.86, EUR 0.73 to EUR 0.77) per kilogram of pangasius, the lowest in the last 10 years. Farmers incurred loss of VND 5,000 (USD 0.21, EUR 0.19) per kilogram at this price.
Since the start of August, prices for whiteleg shrimp in Mekong Delta have risen by 3 to 5 percent over July, Le Van Quang, chairman and CEO of Minh Phu, Vietnam’s biggest shrimp producer and exporter, told SeafoodSource on Monday, 12 August.
Many farmers in Mekong Delta have reduced their production to avoid risks resulted from the rainy season, which began in early May. As a result, the output of whiteleg shrimp in August and September in the region is expected to fall by around 30 percent compared to July. Meanwhile, demand for raw material from local processing plants is increasing to fulfill export contracts signed in previous months, Quang said. He added that the whiteleg shrimp prices were stable in July.
Vietnam Industry and Trade Information Center also said 10 August that the material whiteleg shrimp prices in July were almost the same as in the middle of June. And they confirmed many farmers reduced production due to adverse weather conditions in the month.
Vietnam produced an estimated 55,600 metric tons of whiteleg shrimp in July, down 3.2 percent from the same month last year. Of the total, the production was at 7,200 MT in Ca Mau Province, down 4 percent month-on-month; 6,800 MT in Tra Vinh province, down 39.7 percent month-on-month; and 2,900 MT in Kien Giang Province, 0.9 percent lower than June, according to the center.
VASEP said in late July it expects Vietnam’s shrimp exports to increase due to positive impacts from free trade agreements, opportunities from the U.S.-China trade war, and higher demand from major markets in year-end time.
Photo courtesy of Minh Phu
