China closes border, Nghe An seafood seeks domestic consumption

Many freezers in Quynh Lap commune (Hoang Mai town) are filled with seafood. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Quynh Lap Commune (Town.Hoang Mai)is a locality with high seafood output, along with the seafood steaming, drying and freezing industry here is strongly developed, to consume seafood for fishermen.

However, due to China closing its border gates in recent days, exported seafood cannot be consumed. Freezers and storage warehousesseafoodin Quynh Lap commune becomes congested.

At the storage warehouse of Mr. Tran Ngoc Chung in Doan Ket block, Quynh Lap commune, seafood has been packed to the ceiling for many days now. At the freezer, a series of trays of squid have turned dark black but have not been sold yet. "Because it is difficult to sell, the frozen squid has been in the warehouse for 4 months, leading to discoloration and reduced quality," Mr. Chung shared.

Because it could not be sold for many months, the frozen squid changed color and lost quality. Photo: Quang An

According to Mr. Le Minh Chau - Deputy Director of Doan Ket Cooperative, Quynh Lap commune, the Cooperative has 30 frozen warehouses and 20 seafood storage warehouses, currently storing about 300 tons of seafood in the warehouses. Meanwhile,border gateWith the border to China currently closed, from now until Lunar New Year, members of the cooperative will seek to sell seafood by expanding the domestic market, especially in the mountainous regions of the North and Central regions, to free up warehouses and solve the capital for production rotation.

Most of Quynh Luu district's frozen seafood is exported through the Chinese border gate, so at this time, freezing facilities here are also facing difficulties.

Warehouses for preserving steamed and dried seafood are also congested, stacked to the roof. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Mr. Le Xuan Tu, owner of a freezing facility in Quynh Nghia commune, said that his three freezing warehouses have a capacity of 90 tons. Frozen seafood is mainly exported to China, but when China closed the border, it was impossible to export, forcing the facility to switch to consumption in the southern provinces. However, the domestic market is also facing difficulties, and prices are unstable.

Currently, Doan Ket Cooperative, Quynh Lap Commune still has about 300 tons of unsold seafood. Photo: Quang An

Ms. Tran Thi My Ha - Head of Trade Management Department (Department of Industry and Trade) said that Nghe An's seafood exports are mainly exported to China. While China has closed its border gates, the only way for freezing facilities is to exploit the domestic consumption market with many different segments, namely supermarkets and markets. However, when goods cannot be exported, the amount of goods will increase to "supply greater than demand", which inevitably affects prices.

"For a long time, the Department of Industry and Trade has implemented a program to guideseafood consumption"A more long-term and stable solution is to bring seafood into the standard sales system and supermarket system nationwide, but the establishments have not paid much attention," Ms. Tran Thi My Ha shared.