Vietnamese tra fish, shrimp prices up after Tet festival

Prices of Tra fish in the Mekong Delta after the Tet holiday have risen to VND16,400-16,800 (US$0.859-0.880) a kilogramme, but many breeders are still holding back from selling, hoping they will rise further.

The quantity of fish left to harvest in the region is not much, leaving a host of processing plants facing a shortage of materials, according to local reports.

Meanwhile, seafood export businesses said that within the next three to four months, the output of fish in the region will rise sharply and could even lead to a surplus, causing prices to fall.

As of now, many traders in Bac Lieu, Ca Mau and Soc Trang provinces are paying high prices for tiger shrimps to meet domestic demand and for export.

A kilo of shrimps numbering about 20 now fetches VND180,000-200,000 (US$9.43-10.48) while a kilo that has 30 shrimp is priced at VND140,000-150,000 (US$7.33-7.86).

These prices are highly profitable for farmers, but the number of shrimps left to harvest is not high, because the crop is almost over.