September 19, 2013

 

Vietnam to temporarily halt tra fish production on low supply

 

 

Almost all tra fish export processing factories will temporarily stop production due to the shortage of tra fish which is expected to last until the end of this year and beyond.

 

This is according to an official from the Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

 

Duong Ngoc Minh, VASEP deputy chairman said that because the price of tra fish had increased to VND23,000/kilogramme (US$1.10), tra fish was becoming more and more acute, but enterprises could only buy tra fish of a high enough standard for export processing.

 

Tra fish of between 0.8-1 kilogramme per unit is already sold out in the local market.

 

Minh said, currently, 30 of the 70 existing tra fish processing factories relied on specific tra fish rearing regions to supply 30% of their factories' demand.

 

The factories were expected to use their existing stocks within 10-15 days would then be forced to halt production, he added.

 

According to a VASEP survey, till the end of 2013, total output of tra fish was estimated at 50,000 tonnes, including 30,000 tonnes farmed by enterprises and 20,000 tonnes reared by farmers. Meanwhile, the factories require 300,000 tonnes to meet demand.

 

With the tra fish export season about to start, customers needed huge volumes but local tra fish stocks had been exhausted, Minh said.

 

The impending situation was first flagged at the start of this year, and that many enterprises lacked the investment needed to rear tra fish because the high production costs of VND21,000/kilogramme (US$1) meant they bought tra fish for export from farmers at the lower price of VND18,000-19,000 (US$0.85-0.89) per kilogramme.

 

As a result, farmers were required to increase production and were exposed to greater losses, while enterprises had been unable to form contingencies for the inevitable shortage, Minh added.

 

With the volume of tra fish varieties currently being produced was just half of last year's output, Minh said that the situation would continue into next year.

 

Minh concluded that the 2013-14 crop would produce 500,000-600,000 tonnes of tra fish to meet just half of local demand.