Tra fish shortage grinds production to a halt

Duong Ngoc Minh, VASEP Deputy Chairman said on September 15 that Tra fish was becoming more and more acute because its price had increased to VND23,000 per kilo, but enterprises could only buy Tra fish of a high enough standard for export processing.

Tra fish between 0.8-1 kilo per unit is already sold out in the local market.

Currently, 30 of 70 existing Tra fish processing factories are relying on specific Tra fish farming regions to supply 30% of their factories’ demand, Minh said.

The factories are expected to use their existing stocks within 10-15 days will then be forced to halt production, he added.

According to a VASEP survey, total output of Tra fish to the end of 2013 is estimated at 50,000 tonnes, including 30,000 tonnes farmed by enterprises and 20,000 tonnes raised by farmers. Meanwhile, the factories require 300,000 tonnes to meet demand.

With the Tra fish export season about to start, customers need huge volume but local Tra fish stocks have been exhausted, Minh said.

The impending situation was first flagged at the start of this year, Minh said, adding that many enterprises lacked the investment needed to rear Tra fish because the high production costs of VND21,000 per kilo meant they bought Tra fish for export from farmers at the lower price of VND18,000-19,000 per kilo.

As a result, farmers were required to increase production and were exposed to greater losses, while enterprises had been unable to form contingencies for the inevitable shortage, Minh added.

Minh said the situation would continue into next year because the volume of Tra fish varieties currently being produced is just half of last year’s output.

The 2013-2013 crop would produce 500,000-600,000 tonnes of Tra fish to meet just half of local demand, Minh concluded.