Prices for the smaller sizes are also strong enough to make this profitable, Chow told Undercurrent News.
A farmer today can fetch RMB 9.60 per kilo for 300/500 sizes, which is the same price they would get for 500/800 in May last year.
“The farmers can harvest the fish quickly at a very good price,” said Chow. “They worry that the price might drop if they keep fish to 500 - 800 grams, which takes one and a half to two months.” “Also fish can die if temperatures get high,” he said.
Liang Chaorong, managing assistant at the Chinese processor Evergreen (Zhanjiang Evegreen Aquatic Product), told a similar story. “The raw material is a problem, because there’s no supply of big sizes,” Chaorong told Undercurrentduring the Seafood Expo Global trade show in Brussels last week.
Uncertainty over the weather means farmers are preferring to harvest when the fish is at 300-500 grams, instead of the 700-900g preferred by processors, said Chaorong.
He said ex-farm tilapia prices in Guangdong are at around RMB 11.90 per kilo for 500/800, RMB 10.40 for 300/500 and RMB 12 for above 800 grams.
Chow quoted lower prices, of RMB 11.60/kg for 500/800, and RMB 9.60 for 300/500. These are still comfortably above levels of May last year (RMB 9.60 and RMB 7.60) and November 2013 (RMB 9.80 and RMB 7.80).
Both Chaorong and Jason Carter, who co-founded the tilapia supplier Elite Seafood, said supply was currently short.
“Supply is still very short and we don’t expect this to change until August,” Carter told Undercurrent.
“Demand seems to be quite strong, with packers still buying raw material and I haven’t heard of anyone stopping production due to high raw material pricing,” said Carter, who’s company Elite is expanding its farming areas. “We will see some price relief but I don’t think that this will be until August when we see more supply.”
Higher proportion of 300/500
For the market, the result for now is a short supply of 500/800 and 800+ sizes.
The 3/5oz packs preferred by US foodservice buyers and some retailers are now made with more 300/500 and fewer 500/800, said Chow.
Normally, a 3/5oz pack would consist of 60% 500/800, and maybe 20% 800/1,200 and 20% 300/500. But today, Chow said the breakdown is likely to be closer to 40-55% of 300/500, just 10% of 800/1,200 and the 500/800 making up the rest. “It does not say that there is no 500/800, just that there is more 300/500.”
300/500 sizes are usually used for filleting 2-3oz, whilst 500/800 are used to process 3-5oz fillets.
As long as the bags are bigger than 500g, it is easy to do 3/5oz, said Chow.
According to Vietnam Customs, the export of value-added pangasius in the first eight months of 2024 has been evaluated as quite positive, with continuous growth in many major markets such as the United States, CPTPP, and the Netherlands...
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) The Department of Fisheries of Ca Mau province coordinated with the School of Fisheries under Can Tho University to organize training courses on high-tech shrimp farming for 120 people in processors, cooperatives and families that are raising intensive and super-intensive shrimp in the province.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Currently, Soc Trang province plans to expand its shrimp farming area from over 50,000 hectares to 57,000 hectares by 2025, aiming for a production of 233,800 tons and maintaining a $1 billion export value. The project will establish 45 climate-resilient shrimp farming models and ensure all farms meet aquaculture standards for traceability.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In July 2024, Vietnam's fish cake and surimi exports declined. The export value reached just over 24 million USD, down 3% over the same period. In the first 7 months of 2024, the cumulative export of this product group reached 152 million USD, down 13%.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Dong Thap is a key region for pangasius farming, boasting the largest production in the Mekong Delta. In the first seven months of 2024, the estimated aquaculture area reached 4,778 hectares, with a harvest yield of 307,336 tons. Of this, the intensive pangasius farming area covered 2,042 hectares, with a harvest of 252,670 tons.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) According to Vietnam Customs, in the first half of August 2024, Vietnam's pangasius exports to the EU reached nearly 8 million USD, up 57% over the same period. Cumulative pangasius exports to this market as of August 15, 2024, reached 107 million USD, up 0.5% over the same period last year.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) The Board of Directors of International Development & Investment Corporation (IDI) is confident of completing this year's profit plan in the context of gradually recovering demand for pangasius in China and Mexico.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Some farmers in Soc Trang province have successfully applied a balanced biological shrimp farming technique, which eliminates the use of chemicals to minimize environmental impacts. This is a model of farming that adapts to climate change.
8 finalists have been named in the best new seafood product competition to be awarded at Seafood Expo Asia, taking place 4 to 6 September at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Singapore.
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