April 8, 2011

Thailand flood affects local frozen shrimp output

Floods in Southern Thailand caused damage on shrimp production in 2011 by 15% or about 50,000 tonnes, so shrimp output decreased by 50,000-60,000 tonnes lower than the expected 100,000 tonnes, said Thai Frozen Foods Association President, Panisuan Jamnarnwej.

Thai shrimp exporters are facing problems caused by both the aftermath of the tsunami in Japan and Thailand's southern flooding, Dr Pinisuan said.

About 1,500 shrimp ponds in Surat Thani and shrimp farms in Songkhla, accounting for 5% of production in the South, have been damaged by flooding.

After the Thai situation returns to normal, the association will survey the damage done to the shrimp farms. It is expected that Thai shrimp producers will be able to recover from losses within two months. However, shrimp producers still need government help in the form of soft loans to reconstruct the damaged shrimp ponds.

Moreover, the president said Japan's orders for Thai frozen shrimp also dropped in the wake of the recent earthquake and tsunami. As a result, Thai frozen shrimp exports this year are expected to fall to only some 367,000 tonnes, valued at THB99 billion (US$3.3 billion) and growth dropped by 10% or about THB5 billion (US$166.5 million) as Japan is a major importer of Thai frozen shrimp.

Despite shrimp farm damage in the South, Thailand is still the world's leading shrimp exporter, with a market share of 35% as competitors like Indonesia and Vietnam cannot produce the quantity of shrimp as Thailand and their production quality does not compare to that of Thailand. The amount of frozen shrimp export in the first two months of this year stood at 47,265 tonnes, valued at THB12 billion (US$399 million), an increase of 1.04% on year.

He also added that frozen shrimp prices this year will increase compared to last year due to the decline in production. It can be seen in the shrimp prices in the first two months of this year, which rose to US$8.70/kg from US$6.90/kg last year.

Meanwhile, domestic shrimp prices were also up by 3-5%.