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USSEC Attends Vietshrimp International Fair in Vietnam

USSEC Vietnam Aquaculture Technical Manager Võ Hoàng Nguyên visits the INVE booth at the Vietshrimp International Fair
USSEC Vietnam Aquaculture Technical Manager Võ Hoàng Nguyên visits the INVE booth at the Vietshrimp International Fair

USSEC attended the first international fair organized specifically for Vietnam’s shrimp industry from June 24 to 26. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) of Vietnam and the People Committee of Bạc Liêu province co-organized the event. About 100 booths from multinational producers, chemical and equipment manufacturers, and shrimp feed companies exhibited at the event.
Shrimp extensive culture systems occupy about 70 percent of the shrimp farming area in Vietnam. Stocking density for tiger shrimp (P. monodon) is 20-30 post larvae (PL) /square meter (sqm) and for white leg shrimp (P. vannamei), 100-150 PL/sqm. In 2014, white leg shrimp represented 60.6 percent of Vietnam’s total production at 660,000 metric tons (MT) /year.
As a carnivorous animal, tiger shrimp requires a higher protein level in feed, 42 to 36 percent, while white leg shrimp are more omnivorous with protein levels at 26 to 32 percent. According to a 2012 survey, 30 to 40 percent of Vietnamese farmers still used unsuitable tiger shrimp feed for white shrimp because they believed that using higher protein feed would speed up the growth rate in white shrimp.
Vietnam has 20 shrimp feed mills that produced 500,000 to 600,000 MT of shrimp feed in 2015. The top five feed mills represent 67.6 percent of the total production. Shrimp feed are commonly viewed as pellet feed, but some companies offer extruded sinking shrimp feed, claiming better digestion. Shrimp larva pellet feed is mainly imported from two key players, INVE and Bernaqua.
Every year, Vietnam produced about 143 billion of shrimp PL. Viet Uc Company is the leader with a 28 percent market share. Stocking size is PL14, but some companies offered a PL15 for the PL14 price to gain a competitive advantage.
Thus far, USSEC Vietnam has not been active in the country’s shrimp industry. There are many issues where the industry needs technical support, including better feed and health management. The outlook of Vietnam’s shrimp industry is positive in the near future. The fact that an international fair was organized in Vietnam for specifically for the shrimp industry implies a bright future for Vietnam’s export market.