(seafood.vasep.com.vn) The Mekong Delta is entering the brackish water shrimp farming season in 2021, with an estimated increase in the farming area and harvest compared to 2020. However, since the beginning of the year until now, the COVID-19 epidemic has continued to break out, causing the shrimp exports of enterprises in the Mekong Delta face many difficulties, especially in the field of logistics, affecting and reducing the profits of shrimp companies in particular and seafood enterprises in general.
Vietnam ensures safety and quality for shrimp exports in the Mekong Delta
According to the Directorate of Fisheries - Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in 2020, the brackish water shrimp farming area in the country will reach 738,000 hectares, the total harvested output will be over 900,000 tons, of which black tiger shrimp is over 267,000 tons and white shrimp is over 512,000 tons. In which, in the Mekong Delta, brackish water shrimp farming area is concentrated in coastal provinces with over 680,000 ha, accounting for 92% of brackish water shrimp farming area of whole country. In 2021, Vietnam plans to produce brackish water shrimp on the area of 740,000 ha, mainly in the Mekong Delta… However, in the first months of 2021, the COVID-19 epidemic reappeared, seriously affecting seafood production chain and processing and export factories.
Mr. Ho Quoc Luc, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sao Ta Food Processing Joint Stock Company, said that due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, most of the costs of aquaculture feed and aquatic veterinary medicine increased, therefore the price of raw shrimp also increased. But the selling price of finished shrimp for export has not increased, because importing countries and consumers are still concerned with the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic. For example, in Thailand, India, Cambodia, etc., soon after opening the economy, the epidemic broke out again, making consumers insecure, consumption and import of seafood and shrimp still limited.
According to Mr. Vo Van Phuc, General Director of Vietnam Clean Seafood Joint Stock Company (Vina Cleanfood), compared to the same period last year, the export seafood industry has many advantages, but from the beginning of 2021 until now, there are many difficulties. Especially, shrimp raw materials are not enough, the price increased, while the export price of shrimp was not higher than last year. Factories that plan to store raw materials in the main season have to spend a lot of money on cold storage and bank interest rates. Up to now, the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic has had a strong impact on input prices, plus an increase in export freight rates, increase in labor makes the production cost of the shrimp industry increase.
In the first months of 2021, despite facing many difficulties in production, trading and processing of shrimp for export, shrimp farming areas in the Mekong Delta are entering the new farming season with positive signs. Because, at present, the weather in the Mekong Delta changes seasons, rains early, shrimp farming areas are favorable and develop well. Many shrimp farming models apply new technology very effectively. Businesses investing in shrimp farms and many shrimp farming households forecast that this year's shrimp crop will be better, due to the good and stable farming process.
According to forecasts, the fact that Vietnam has and will join many new-generation trade agreements is an important premise to develop aquaculture production and brackish water shrimp exports in 2021. At the same time, according to the standard cycle. For shrimp consumption, the market usually gets better towards the end of the year. At the beginning of the third quarter of 2021, in the Northern Hemisphere countries in the summer, the people of these countries make a lot of travel, entertainment and entertainment, so consumption increases; Countries affected by the current rapid outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic also reduce shrimp farming areas, so the competitiveness of export output will decrease… That is a good condition for the shrimp industry to export in the coming time. However, shrimp prices cannot increase sharply in the near future, as prices are already high. It is forecasted that when in the peak season of shrimp harvest from June to September, shrimp prices are likely to decrease and at the end of the season will increase again.