Tom Seaman : Unduercurrentnews

The vannamei shrimp raw material prices in India’s main production region Andhra Pradesh are moving up fast, due to weak landings in the main production areas, sources told Undercurrent News.

Prices for large size shrimp are moving fastest, with 40 per kilogram size at IDR 340/kg on Sept. 7, up IDR 30/kg from Aug. 31. For 30 count shrimp, the price is at IDR 390/kg on Sept. 7, an increase of IDR 20/kg from Aug 31.

The prices for 60, 70 and 80 count shrimp is up IDR 15/kg, to IDR 275/kg, IDR 245/kg and IDR 225/kg, respectively.

According to sources, the price is likely to move up further.

Production is “very bad”, one Andhra Pradesh-based packer and farmer told Undercurrent.

This is because stocking was low by farmers from May onward, due to production problems and the price drop, he said.

“The availability from the main crop in other areas, such as Kolkata and Orissa, is about to finish, while the landings in Andhra Pradesh still appear quite weak,” said Chaipat Kunapiwatkul, business development manager with Siam Canadian Group, a Bangkok, Thailand-based frozen seafood supplier.

“Most of the packers shared that this poor landing is likely to continue at least for another few weeks,” he told Undercurrent. “There has been a sign of some medium and small sizes being harvested in Andhra Pradesh, but the quantity is still not so much.”

Raw material availability has gone down a lot, said Durai Balasubramanian, secretary of the Pattukottai Shrimp Farmers Association, which has 4,000 members.

“I’m hearing reports price might move up another 20% from here. Most of them [the farmers] finished harvesting,” he said. “I think there won’t be much raw material available for the next two months.”

In some areas, farmers are complaining about white feces disease, so they are harvest “then and there” at around 60 count, he said.

“It’s going to be an interesting month for farmers; everyone is waiting to see how far the prices move up. If the prices continue to move up, people will go for more stocking,” said Balasubramanian.

The picture is very different from last year, he said, where there was lots of harvesting throughout the year. This year, the price picture has meant this hasn’t happened.

“Since the price dropped, most people didn’t go for stocking during June.”

Now the prices are rising, but availability is clearly coming down in all states, said Balasubramanian.

Source:

Contact us : Siam Canadian Group Frozen Seafood Exporters for more formation:
Email: info@siamcanadian.com