Thai seafood exports mostly unaffected by riots

Thai seafood exports have received minimal impact from the riots in Bangkok with only a small volume of cargoes being delayed at the capital's ports, according to reports.

The protests that forced the government to announce national holidays for the entire week interrupted export procedures and delayed some shipments, said Panisuan Jamnarnwej, president of the Thai Frozen Foods Association.

As protesters did not block the ports in Bangkok and Laem Chabang in Rayong, exports remained on track although there were some additional transport expenses to avoid traffic gridlock in the inner city.

Agriculture Minister Theera Wongsamut also instructed all government offices to continue providing services for clients during the holidays.

Shipments of seafood products require documents from various government agencies including the departments of Fisheries, the Livestock Development, Customs, and Foreign Trade. The normal procedure is one day, but some products that need two or three days for laboratory tests from the Fisheries Department will be delayed.

However, the impact on seafood exports this quarter would be slight, said Panisuan.

In the first three months of this year, Thailand exported frozen shrimp worth US$587 million, a rise of 34% over the same period last year.

The financial crisis in Europe is expected to affect the exports of Thai shrimp to the EU, which imported about 44,000 tonnes of shrimp products, or 11% of the country's total shrimp exports.

Thai shrimp shipments are forecast to rise by about 5% this year as the outbreak of infectious myonecrosis virus in shrimp farms in Indonesia and Brazil and a lower catch in the US due to an oil spill off Louisiana benefit Thai producers, Panisuan added.