With 61% of unhavested shrimp area and additional farming area in the last 4 months of the year, brackish water shrimp production in 2010 will probably reach 500,000 tons, up 22.5% compared to 2009. Although the production increases, shirmp materials are not enough for processing and export because of rapidly increasing processing companies together with the expansion of processing lines of many factories.
According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Soc Trang, Bac Lieu and Ca Mau, in the current main havesting season, shrimp material source only meets 70% - 80% of provincial processing capacity. Ca Mau has ability to process 150,000 tons of finished shrimp products each year. However, the current yield of the whole province is only 10,000 tons per month. The total output of processed shrimp of Bac Lieu in the first 9 months of this year is expected to achieve 20,118 tons with 15 province-based processing factories.
Because of increasing shrimp production and global demand as well as favourable market conditions, it is forcasted that Vietnamese shrimp export in 2010 will be positive both in volume and value. According to statistics of Vietnam Customs, by August 15, 2010, Vietnam exported 122,702 tons of shrimp, generating 1.02 billion USD.