Shrimps Market Updated: October 2020

The Shrimps market has now entered the off-season stage in a strong demand market pushed by USA and Europe. From Central to South Vietnam, ponds are now empty and farming is on rotation to minimize the risk associated with bad weather.

In the Central of Vietnam the typhoon season has started with the usual strength and power so farming has nearly halved, restarting will happen only after TET 2021 scheduled for February 12, so main harvest commencing around end May. In the South this year started seeding the 2nd crop earlier than last year due to the colder weather brought by La Nina. So now South Vietnam is preparing for the dry season which will be peak in the November/December.

MARKET:
Vietnam factories are flooded by orders with major producers fully booked until year end, especially from the European retailers increasing orders of cooked shrimps after the EU-VN Free Trade Agreement went into the effect + weak availability of certified ASC raw material in other origins.

There is no availability of small sizes as most of it where booked on annual contracts in the months of May-June by the European markets. The medium and big sizes have therefore gone up in prices, reversing the weakness trend of the June-July months.

OUTLOOK:
The price may go up higher in next coming weeks if the weather turns bad, but will remain in line with last year. On the other end, we forecast quantity scarcity.The raw material is getting more scarce due to off season, diseases plus farmers reduce farming quantity. There will be no raw material or very few early next year Jan-April while waiting for the main crops coming in May.