(vasep.com.vn) Shrimp raw material prices in Thailand are continuing to fall, across all sizes. Raw material prices in Thailand, where the early mortality syndrome (EMS) outbreak saw production dive to around 250,000 metric tons in 2013, from as much as 600,000t at its peak, have cooled off in recent weeks.
For the week for April 21-25, prices for 60 per kilogram count shrimp were THB 235/kg; 70/kg count was THB 195-215/kg and 80/kg count was 180-193/kg.
The previous week, the prices were higher.
From April 17-19, prices for 80/kg size shrimp raw material were 198/kg, after the closure of the market due to the Thai New Year holidays, the water festival. Prices for 70/kg shrimp were THB 220-246/kg, with no prices for 60/kg shrimp, due to a lack of availability.
At the peak of the market, 80/kg hit THB 263 in Dec. 9-14 last year; 70/kg hit THB 260-273/kg between Oct. 21-26; and 60/kg hit THB 280/kg the same week.
Packers and farmers in Thailand, hit hard by EMS, have been trying to cool off prices, which finally seems to be happening.
As a result, shrimp buyers in the US and Europe are sitting back on orders and waiting for raw material and finished product prices to fall further.
“You are a strong buyer when you don’t need to buy. That is the case at the moment, I think there is a lot of stock in the system that needs to be sold through, as it was bought at the higher prices,” said a source with one UK shrimp buyer.
Shrimp buyers in the US are also in wait-and-see mode, wary of today’s unpredictable market, as a price softening trend continues.
What will will happen next is the looming question, considering supplies are set to increase in a market that is already declining.
“A collapse? Maybe not, but the reality is that all of the rules have changed so much that no one can predict anything right now,” a veteran US importer of Latin American shrimp, wishing to remain unnamed, told Undercurrent. “With that said, I am holding off on some purchases right now to see if things will continue downward.”