Concerns about the beginning of the salt production season

(Baonghean) - Since the beginning of March, in the salt fields in the coastal communes of Quynh Luu district, salt farmers have been busy repairing their salt fields to enter the new production season. However, while at this time last year, the price of salt reached 1,600 VND/kg, this year, the price of salt is only 1,000 VND/kg, causing salt farmers to worry, even though the salt season has just begun.

Salt farmers in An Hoa commune (Quynh Luu) harvest salt.

Like every year, in the second lunar month, salt farmers in An Hoa commune urgently went to the fields to repair and renovate the ponds and prepare for the salt production season. While working hard to scrape batches of white salt after about 6 hours of sun drying, Mr. Mai Van Danh in Nam Tien village was drenched in sweat. He said: "At the beginning of the salt season, everyone here was worried, the salt produced was sold at a much lower price than last year. People just knew how to hold on to the job and hope that the price of salt would be higher." This year's salt crop, Mr. Danh's family had 500m2 of ponds for production. However, the price of salt at the beginning of the season was too low.

According to Mr. Danh, the price of salt at the beginning of the season last year was 1,600 to 1,700 VND/kg, and the current price of salt sold to traders is 1,000 to 1,100 VND/kg. With 500m2 of salt, Mr. Danh's family will produce about 3 quintals of salt/day, and in mild sunny weather, about 2 quintals/day. With the current selling price, a day's income is over 200,000 VND divided among 3 workers. Thus, each person only gets about 60-70,000 VND/day. "With the current price of salt, farmers do not make any profit. They put in a lot of effort and human resources to earn income, but the price of salt at the beginning of the season is falling. What can we do now?!" - Mr. Danh shared.

Sharing the same concern, Ms. Nguyen Thi Minh, Hong Phong village said: “At the beginning of the season, there is not much salt produced, so the price is often very high, then gradually decreases in the middle of the season. Like last year, the price of salt at the beginning of the season reached 1,600 VND/kg. But this year, at the beginning of the season, the price of salt is only about 1,000 VND/kg. The price is too low, traders are not interested in buying, making salt farmers worried about the whole salt season…”. Not only salt farmers, some salt traders are also worried. In the whole An Hoa commune, there are about 14 households buying salt. Although it has just started the season, the buyers are not very interested because the amount of salt in the warehouse is still stagnant. According to estimates, there is currently about 60 - 70% of the salt in the warehouse of the purchasing households, unable to be sold to other places.

Mr. Ho Vinh Hung, a salt buyer, said: Currently, his family's warehouse still has about 200 tons of salt from last year that have not been sold yet. The reason is that a lot of salt is transported from the southern provinces to the central and northern provinces and sold at a cheaper price. Therefore, the amount of salt purchased is currently in stock and is only waiting to find an outlet with a higher price to sell. "The drop in the price of salt at the beginning of the season is disadvantageous for us. If we sell it to factories at a higher price, we will only break even and lose money. If we cannot find an outlet to consume the remaining salt, the salt will melt after a long time, and we will definitely lose money. Therefore, we have not purchased more salt from the people to avoid the situation of stagnation" - Mr. Hung said.

Discussing this issue, Mr. Le Xuan Quyet, Vice Chairman of An Hoa Commune People's Committee said: "The whole An Hoa commune has 145 hectares of salt production, concentrated in Hong Phong, Tan An, Nam Tien, Tan Thinh villages... The average annual salt output reaches 19,000 to 20,000 tons/year. However, the current price of salt at the beginning of the season is very low, not ensuring the price and life of the people. The government is encouraging salt farmers to stick with the sun and is looking for ways to coordinate with businesses to consume products for the people. Salt farmers also hope that the price of salt will increase, helping people stabilize their lives."

In Quynh Tho commune (Quynh Luu), more than 450 salt-producing households are also worried because the salt at the beginning of the season is being sold at a low price, affecting the people's economy. The whole commune has 55 hectares of salt production, the annual salt output of the commune is from 5,000 to 6,000 tons with a value of nearly 9 billion VND. Mr. Nguyen Van Nho, head of Luu Quang salt service cooperative, Quynh Tho commune said: At this time, like previous years, wherever people produce salt, traders come to buy it at the place, and buy it at a high price. After deducting expenses, the average income of a household is from 150,000 to 200,000 VND/day. However, at the beginning of this year's salt production season, the salt production atmosphere of the people has somewhat slowed down. The reason is also because the salt price is too low, people do not make a profit, while to make white salt grains, it takes a lot of labor.

According to the purchasing facilities, since the beginning of the second lunar month until now, salt from the southern provinces has been penetrating the market of Nghe An province, including Quynh Luu district. The price of salt sold to purchasing facilities is cheaper than the price of salt sold to the people. It is known that salt in the South is sold to the facilities at 800 VND/kg, while the price of salt sold to purchasing households is 1,000 VND to 1,200 VND/kg. Salt prices have dropped, combined with unstable output, so the salt farmers of Quynh Luu district are currently facing great difficulties, while this is just the beginning of the salt season.

Viet Hung

Quynh Luu Station