Most of the 33 seafood processors in Vietnam’s southern province of Ca Mau are facing serious shortage of unprocessed materials and now have to work at 30% of their designed capacity, the Vietnam News Agency said.
The shortage of unprocessed aquatic materials in the Mekong Delta province is caused by the lack of fresh water for 20,000 hectares of local aquatic ponds and the low offshore yield, the VNA said.
Every year, the province produces 280,000 tons of aquatic materials, including 120,000 tons of shrimp. However, the volume meets only 50% of the demand of local seafood processors.
Ca Mau’s seafood processors are forced to import aquatic materials from India, Thailand and Bangladesh for their production. This year, they have to boost imports of unprocessed materials to fulfill the already signed contracts with foreign partners.