Traders stock up on goods for Tet, many types of seafood increase in price

Traders buy dried squid at Lach Quen fishing port. Photo: Xuan Hoang

At some fishing ports in the areaNghe AnIn early November, many seafood products increased in price, with the sharpest increase being dried squid. Traders competed to buy every kilo every time a ship returned to the fishing port.

Fishermen said that at this time, the sea industry is producing fish, squid and some other valuable seafood. At the same time, traders are stocking up on Tet goods, so fishermen are actively fishing at sea.

Fisherman Ho Huu Thien in Quynh Nghia commune (Quynh Luu) has just steered his boat to dock.Lach Quen fishing portOn the morning of November 1, he happily said that on this trip, his boat caught a lot of seafood, the most valuable of which was more than 120 kg of dried squid and more than 1 ton of boiled squid. The squid alone sold for more than 250 million VND, other types of fish added another 150 million VND, so the total revenue from this trip was more than 400 million VND.

Squid is dried at sea right after being caught, so it has good quality. Photo: Xuan Hoang

"All the squid are purchased by traders at high prices: Dried squid of 5-6 pieces/kg costs 1.5 million VND/kg, and those of over 10 pieces/kg cost 900-1.2 million VND/kg. Compared to the same period last year, this year's price is 150,000-200,000 VND/kg higher. However, with offshore fishing, the time to catch a lot of squid is only in November, after that, when the weather gets colder, there will be less squid," fisherman Ho Huu Thien said excitedly.

Fishermen said that after catching the squid, they choose the big ones, clean the intestines, and dry them in the sun if it is sunny. Otherwise, they dry them in an oven right on the boat, so the quality is good. Therefore,traderoften hunted, purchased and stored for sale during the Lunar New Year. Not only dried squid but also large and beautiful boiled squid are also purchased by traders at higher prices than before.

Valuable seafood is also purchased by traders to store for Tet, so prices have increased. Photo: Xuan Hoang

According to research, although dried squid is sold at a high price, the quantity on each ship arriving at the port is not much. Mr. Nguyen Duc Dong, manager of Lach Quen Fishing Port, said that at this time, traders are buying dried squid but the quantity is small. Because not all ships can process dried squid, but only some ships that catch by trawling and line fishing have it and the quantity is also small, any ship that can process more than 100 kg of dried squid is profitable, because the selling price is high, the lowest type is 900,000 VND/kg, the big and beautiful type is up to 1.6 million VND/kg.

Ms. Ho Thi Quynh, a dried squid buyer at Lach Quen Fishing Port, shared that although it is still nearly 3 months away,Lunar New Year, but freezing facilities have begun to purchase seafood for storage, including dried squid. However, because the amount of dried squid that fishermen can process is not much, only a few hundred kilograms can be purchased on days when there are many boats returning, because many people "hunt" for dried squid, sometimes having to fight over each kilogram.

Steamed fish processing in Quynh Lap commune (Hoang Mai town) is also bustling during the season to prepare for Tet. Photo: Q.An

Quynh Lap Commune is the locality with the largest number of large-capacity boats in the province, with more than 150; along with that, the commune has a seafood processing industry and dozens of seafood freezers. At this time, the seafood processing industries here are much busier to serve Tet goods.

Mr. Le Ba Ky - Vice Chairman of Quynh Lap Commune People's Committee said: Usually at the end of the year, especially on Tet holiday, the amount of seafood consumed is much higher than usual, due to the consumption demand of customers and people giving gifts to relatives, so on this occasion, freezing facilities buy in large quantities. Among them, it is necessary to mention dried steamed anchovies, frozen boiled squid, dried squid, mackerel, silver pomfret. Therefore, on this occasion, seafood consumption is strong and prices have increased.

Steamed and dried anchovies are then frozen in Quynh Lap commune. Photo: Q.An

According to Mr. Le Ba Ky, among the seafood with prices, dried squid is the most expensive. Currently, traders buy at the lowest price of 700,000 VND/kg to 1.5 million VND/kg, but there are very few goods, many freezing facilities in the commune have to go to fishing ports in Quynh Luu and Cua Lo town to buy. Because fishermen in Quynh Lap mainly catch anchovies, sea bream, mackerel, silver pomfret...

Nghe An seafood has long been favored by customers with famous products such as grilled mackerel, sun-dried mackerel, dried squid, sun-dried squid, yellowstripe scad, redstripe scad, shrimp, dried anchovies, dried mussels, etc. These are all products with high consumption during Tet, 3-4 times higher than normal days.

Grilled mackerel is one of Nghe An's seafood products that is popular with customers. Photo: Xuan Hoang

In addition to seafood products, fish sauce and shrimp paste production facilities in the district are also bustling during the Tet season. Starting from November, fish sauce production facilities in An Hoa, Quynh Tho, Son Hai, Quynh Ngoc, Tien Thuy communes... (Quynh Luu); Dien Ngoc, Dien Van... (Dien Chau); Quynh Phuong, Quynh Lap communes, Quynh Di ward (Hoang Mai town); craft villages in Cua Lo town, are urgently making Tet goods.