Shrimp prices drop sharply, shrimp farmers in Nghe An suffer losses
(Baonghean.vn) - Raw shrimp, especially whiteleg shrimp, have fallen sharply in price, while the prices of materials and veterinary medicine for aquatic products have increased, so shrimp farmers have no profit, or even suffer losses.
Having just sold a shrimp pond with a yield of over 4 tons, Mr. Pham Ly, a shrimp farmer in Quynh Bang commune (Quynh Luu) lost about 100 million VND. Mr. Ly said: "Due to the hot weather, the shrimp grow slowly, raising for 120 days consumes about 6.3 tons of feed, the price of feed has increased by 30% compared to before, but the weight only reaches 80 shrimp/1kg. Meanwhile, the price of shrimp is lower than every year, only selling for 88,000 VND/kg, so the loss is about 100 million VND".
On a farming area of more than 2 hectares, Mr. Tran Van Thuong (Hamlet 13, Quynh Thanh Commune) has just sold nearly 4 tons of commercial shrimp with sizes of 70 - 75 shrimp/kg to traders for 100,000 VND/kg.
“Compared to the same period last year, shrimp prices have decreased by 15-20%. At the beginning of the season, shrimp prices were already low, and when the harvest season comes, prices will certainly decrease. According to calculations, the input cost for 1kg of 75-80 shrimp is about 85,000-90,000 VND (shrimp feed accounts for 60%, 30% is aquatic materials and 10% is electricity and labor), shrimp feed prices are increasing while shrimp prices are decreasing, so losses are inevitable,” said Mr. Thuong.
The more you raise, the more you lose. Larger households lose hundreds of millions, and small households lose about 30-50 million VND. In addition to the extreme heat causing shrimp to be sick (white spot disease, acute hepatopancreatic necrosis), slow growth, and high feed prices, the reason for the loss is that shrimp prices are too low.
Accordingly, live white-leg shrimp, 100 pieces/kg, costs 90,000 VND/kg; 80 - 90 pieces/kg, costs 95,000 - 98,000 VND/kg; 70 pieces/kg costs about 105,000 VND/kg; 50 pieces/kg costs 140,000 VND/kg, 40 pieces/kg costs 160,000 - 165,000 VND/kg... The selling price of frozen shrimp is usually about 10,000 VND/kg lower than that of live shrimp.
Mr. Nguyen Van Thang - Head of the Management Board of the industrial shrimp farming area of Quynh Bang commune (Quynh Luu) said: "There are many reasons for the low shrimp price. Firstly, due to losses, most people leave their ponds empty and do not raise shrimp, so the concentrated farming areas are only sparsely populated, shrimp output has decreased sharply, so factories do not come to collect shrimp, leading to sluggish sales.
On the other hand, hot weather makes shrimp grow slowly, so the farming time is long, to "cut losses" they have to sell before reaching the weight, so buyers are picky about small shrimp, the price is lower. Besides, the price of raw shrimp in countries like Ecuador is only half the price of domestic shrimp, so China imports shrimp from Ecuador instead of Vietnamese shrimp. This makes the output and price of raw shrimp in the country difficult, including Nghe An".
In addition, processing enterprises have difficulty accessing capital to rotate production, limiting the purchase of raw shrimp for storage. Besides, consumption demand in the domestic market is not high, prices are unstable.
Shrimp prices have dropped sharply, shrimp diseases are becoming more complicated, many shrimp farmers are suspending their ponds and temporarily stopping breeding. Many shrimp farmers have abandoned their ponds.
Three measures to reduce costs in shrimp farming
*) Food control:Shrimp should be fed several times a day but the amount of food should be reduced to about 70%. Shrimp will eat more at sunrise and sunset. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the amount of food during the day and reduce the amount of food at night. When shrimp are molting, the weather is hot, or there is a sudden change in the pond environment, farmers should reduce the amount of food...
*) Reduce density:Reasonable stocking density combined with adequate investment and equipment such as water fans, bottom oxygen (if any) to ensure dissolved oxygen content in the pond > 4 - 5 mg/liter for black tiger shrimp and white leg shrimp.
*) Limit the use of chemicals:Drugs, chemicals and biological products are relatively expensive, accounting for 20 - 30% of shrimp farming. Therefore, it is necessary to closely monitor the development of shrimp ponds to use drugs and chemicals promptly and in the right dosage, creating a safe and sustainable pond environment for shrimp farming...
