Workers process shrimp for export (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNA) – Intensive processing hasserved as an effective tool for Vietnamese shrimp exporters to improve their competitivecapacity in the context of a steep increase in the global supply which broughtdown the price and demand for shrimp in major markets.
According to Ho Quoc Luc, former Chairman of the Vietnam Association of SeafoodExporters and Producers (VASEP) and Chairman of Sao Ta Foods JSC, Vietnamesefirms are capitalising on their processing strengths to increase the added-valueof their products.
Currently, Vietnam houses 100 processing plants with total average capacity ofsome 500,000-700,000 tonnes of shrimp each year, which are able to double theirscale in just a short period of time. Meanwhile, large-scale plants like MinhPhu, Vinh Hoan, and Hung Vuong equipped with state-of-the-art technologies cansatisfy the demands of giant distributors, he said.
Thanks to the well-developed processing industry, Vietnamese shrimp has beenfavoured by foreign purveyors, said Tran Van Linh, Chairman of Thuan PhuocSeafoods and Trading Corporation. He added that more foreign customers are buyingVietnamese processed shrimp as several free trade deals come into force,helping the products take full advantage of tax preferences in foreign markets.
VASEP statistics have shown that this year to the end of September, totalshrimp export value was estimated at more than 2.7 billion USD, a fall of 3percent year-on-year. However, the turnover from white-leg shrimp, which accountedfor 68 percent of the country’s total shrimp export, rose by 2 percent.
Last year, white-leg shrimp earned the country 2.5 billion USD in exportrevenue, 50 percent of which was through value-added products.
Although the processing industry brings lucrative business to local firms, theycould earn more if their shrimp materials were sold as cheap in that in India,Ecuador, and Indonesia.
To compensate for high material costs and lower production costs, many leadingseafood firms are investing heavily in advanced technologies and equipment.Thuan Phuoc and Minh Phu seafood corporations have made their processing lineautomated to cut labour costs and increase productivity.
Experts said that the Government should take suitable measures to assist theshrimp industry in planning, infrastructure investment, and control of thetrading of antibiotics and other harmful chemicals in the market towardssustainable shrimp development in the future. –VNA
VNA
