August 6, 2013

 

Vietnam to become top shrimp exporter

 

 

Vietnam may emerge as the biggest shrimp exporter as the EMS (early mortality syndrome) epidemic continues to affect many countries, including Thailand.

 

The chair of the Thai Shrimp Association, Somsak Paneetatayasai, said that Thai shrimp exports in 2013 may decrease sharply by 50% due to the EMS. Only 20-30% of shrimp ponds in the country are still operational. The EMS has severely hindered the progress of Thailand's shrimp hatchery industry since 2012, with the syndrome infecting both black tiger and white leg shrimps.

 

The sharp decline in Thai shrimp exports has also cause frozen shrimp prices in the US and Europe to surge by 20% in recent months and double over the last two years. The price in Japan has also increased by US$5.5/kilogramme.

 

Tran Huu Loc, who found the causes of EMS, said the epidemic has reached out to Mexico and may spark off drastic increases of shrimp prices if the disease spreads to South America.

 

Meanwhile, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) have affirmed that the percentage of dead shrimps has decreased significantly due to the lower farming density.

 

Japan has raised the permitted ceiling of Trifluralin residue level for shrimp imports from Vietnam from 0.001ppm to 0.5ppm, which has boosted Vietnam's shrimp exports to Japan by 3.6% during the first five months.

 

Vietnamese exporters have found new markets in South America, the Middle East and Asia. China remains the third biggest importer. In the first five months of the year, Vietnam exported US$108.5 million worth of shrimps to the market, up by 17.9% over the same period of 2012.

 

The shrimp epidemics in South East Asia have forced regional countries to increase imports, in order to meet local demands. Therefore, Vietnam's shrimp exports to ASEAN countries have increased by 15.5%.

 

2012 was the most difficult time for the shrimp farming industry. With tight fundings and rising debts, many farmers had to give up farming as they could not access bank loans.

 

According to a report, about 30,000 hectares of shrimp farming area in Mekong River Delta has suffered from the epidemics. Local farmers will need at least US$43 million worth of capital to resume the hatchery.

 

Vietnam also needs more capital to develop shrimp growing areas and implement trade promotion campaigns in new markets. It is expected that Vietnam will require US$70-100 million a month to import shrimp materials.

 

Though Vietnam has successfully controlled EMS, farmers are still facing difficulties. VASEP's secretary general, Truong Dinh Hoe, has called for urgent preferences to fulfil the plan on exporting US$2.4 billion worth of shrimps in 2013. VASEP has proposed to lower the shrimp material import tariff to 0% and requested banks to restructure debts and continue providing loans.