June 21, 2012

 

 

As Chinese merchants have ceased the purchase of Vietnamese lobsters, first class merchandise lobsters are being traded at VND800,000 (US$38.24) per kilogrammes on June 14, the lowest price level in the last several years.

 

This is down from the previous VND2.8 million (US$134) per kilo.

 

The prices have been decreasing dramatically because of the plummeted demand. Chinese merchants, the biggest buyers of lobsters, have suddenly stopped purchases, reports SGTT.

 

There are about 9,000 lobster cages being bred by 1,200 local households in Van Ninh district, which can put out 400 tonnes of lobsters a year.

 

According to Dang Tri Thong, an official of the district's agriculture sub-department, first class lobsters were sold at over VND2 million (US$95.60) per kilogramme in 2011. The high prices encouraged farmers to expand the cultivation area, thus leading to the 5% increase in the number of lobster cages. However, the lobster price has unexpectedly dropped, which has made farmers suffer, because they have to invest heavily on farming.

 

Meanwhile, the input material prices all have been increasing sharply. The breeder and feed prices have surged by 15-20%. The epidemics have led to the 30-50% output loss.

 

"The total output is 180 tonnes this crop, which is equal with the last year's crop. However, the value is just equal to 40% because of the too low prices," Thong said.

 

Nguyen Van Tam in Van Thanh Commune, who has 2,000 lobsters, said that merchants have proved to be very demanding. Despite cheap prices, they would only choose the best breed of lobsters.

 

"I have poured VND700 million (US$33,460) into the shrimp cages, including several millions… a day on feed. Now I have to sell lobsters at a loss. I need money to pay for feed and shrimp disease treatment," he said.

 

A local farmer said that he still has not started the new crop. Lobster breeders need to be caught from the wild; therefore, they are now very expensive. Meanwhile, he can foresee that the production costs are very high, while he is not sure about the sale prices.

 

"Breeding lobsters is like gambling. A lot of farmers intend to give up farming after they sell out the lobsters," he continued.

 

Ho Ngoc Tuan, another farmer, said that with the current input costs, the merchandise lobster price should be sufficient enough to bring profits to farmers.

 

According to Hoang Kim Khanh, Head of the Khanh Hoa provincial's Aquaculture Agency, there are about 20,000 lobster cages in the province. The majority of the products have been exported to China across the border gates. Therefore, once Chinese merchants stop purchasing, the prices would plunge dramatically.

 

Khanh said that farmers still have to sell lobsters at a loss, because they fear they would incur bigger losses due to the epidemics. Farmers have lost VND60 billion (US$2.9 million) so far this year due to the epidemics.

 

Farmers understand that they take risks when relying on the Chinese market. However, to date, no Vietnamese enterprise has come forward to collect lobsters from farmers. Only a small percentage of lobsters have been sold to luxury restaurants in Vietnam.

 

"Lobsters can bring trillions of dong, but farmers have to take high risks," said Vo Thien Lang, Chair of the Khanh Hoa provincial Fisheries Association.