Shrimp industry flooded with good news as 2021 starts

A lot of new processing plants constructed and inaugurated

Right at the dawn of 2021, the shrimp industry is in full swing when large numbers of newly built and modern factories are inaugurated and come into operation. Moreover, the establishment of several plants with higher capacity has been planned for the near future.

Amongst those new factories, An An Shrimp Processing Plant, located in Tien Giang and owned by Thuan Phuoc Seafoods and Trading Corporation, is a project for which people hold high expectations. Having an area of about 3 hectares, the Plant which required an investment of over VND 400 billion, can process approximately 50 tons of shrimps per day, and is equipped with a 3,000-ton capacity cold store.

In addition, An An owns 200 hectares of shrimp farm lying in Ba Tri, Ben Tre. Thanks to the investment in An An, Thuan Phuoc is rated among the 5 largest shrimp companies in Vietnam at the moment.

Minh Phu Seafood Corporation, which tops the chart, also planned to commence the construction of its two large processing plants, 50,000-ton-capacity per year in total, in Hau Giang and Ca Mau by this Quarter end. Minh Phu has invested nearly VND 1,000 billion in this project. The setting up of the Corporation’s another factory in Kien Giang is also planned.

Sao Ta Foods Joint Stock Company (Fimex VN) has two plants under construction since 2020 with a total capacity of 20,000 tons per year, on which the Company has spent about VND 400 billion. According to a piece of information circulated within the industry, Sao Ta plant in Ho Phong, Bac Lieu, having a processing capacity of 10,000 tons per year, is on its way into operation as the Company has entered the final stage.

Such inauguration and construction of multiple new and high capacity shrimp processing plants right from the start of the year have proved that even with the COVID-19 pandemic as an omnipresent backdrop, shrimp companies have high expectations for exportation in this year as well as in the long run.

Ho Quoc Luc, Ph.D., Chairman of the Fimex VN Board of Directors, said the launch of many modern factories was a signal that a new period had started with optimism in the country’s shrimp industry.   

Important export market picks up

As a wave of investment is attracted in the processing facilities, in the first few months of the year, Vietnam’s shrimp export grew in markets deemed important.

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), in this January, export to the U.S. reached US$ 41.8 million, rising 10.5% from a year earlier. A 15% increase minimum is forecast for value of shrimp exportation to the States in Q1 2021, based on the consumer market recovery from the coronavirus downturn.

At the same time, Vietnam export to the EU climbed close to US$ 30 million in value, 16% higher than that of this period last year. The country’s export value increased by 27.5% for Germany, 30.6% the Netherlands, 2.1% Belgium, and 72% Denmark.

Based on those data, VASEP forecasted a double-digit growth in the value for Q1 2021 shrimp export to the Union as a lot of economies there recover, and Northern European consumption goes up significantly from 2020.

However, from Dr. Luc’s point of view, despite those positive signals yielded allowing the industry to start the year with hopes, there are enormous obstacles in the development path, the most notable of which is assigning codes to shrimp farms. This task is poorly carried out, costing Vietnamese shrimps passports to swim to the world.

What's more, the aquaculture industry has been under pressure to satisfy the requirements set by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council. Such requirements have barred the country’s shrimp industry from leveraging the European-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement.