February 2, 2012

Vietnamese shrimp exporters see adequate supplies this year

As they become more self-sufficient in material supply sources, Vietnam's shrimp exporters are no longer concerned about material shortage this year, state media reported Wednesday (Feb 1).

Chu Van An, deputy general director of Minh Phu Seafood Corp. said his firm planned to expand its cultivation area by 200 hectares yearly from current 1,200 hectares in Kien Giang, Vung Tau and Ca Mau provinces.

The company also wants to increase its self-supplied input material to 70% of the processing demand in 2015 compared to 10% at present.

"Our company aims at sustainable development, though the establishment of a closed production and processing chain in order to better manage quality risks," An said.

Besides capital sources, good governance is necessary for the country's leading seafood processors to efficiently invest in cultivation area, An said, adding that the good farming management and farming area expansion help ensure the input quality for export products to the strict markets, which expressed concern over prohibited antibiotics residues in seafood.

High export prices of seafood have attracted many firms to invest in shrimp breeding and shrimp farming, An noted. Meanwhile, the seafood breed company Hung Vuong Ben Tre plans to supply some 10 billion shrimp breeds to the local market this year.

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) also forecast that local shrimp supply will be stable in 2012 because enterprises and farmers have engaged in white-legged shrimp cultivation as well as learned experiences from tiger prawn disease epidemic last year. Many local firms also import raw materials from India and Indonesia in addition to local production.

Japan, the US, China and Korea are expected to remain the main importers of Vietnam-sourced shrimp. The US and Japan tend to boost import of value-added products and reduce of simple products. The purchasing power of the EU, which holds 18% of Vietnamese shrimp export in 2011, is predicted to be lower due to financial crises in the bloc.

In 2011, Vietnam earned US$2.39 billion from shrimp export, rising 14% on year, with tiger prawn export reached US$1.43 billion. Minh Phu Seafood Corp is the biggest exporter with revenues of US$348 million last year.