Falling oyster prices and mounting inventories have been troubling oyster farmers in Thanh Hoa Province’s Hau Loc District as they are unable to recoup hundreds of billions of VND.
Hundreds of hectares of oyster fields in Da Loc Commune
Despite much lower prices, farmers have still been unable to sell tens of thousands of tonnes of oysters, yet still have to repay their loans.
In Da Loc Commune, the largest oyster growing area in Hau Loc, farmers have yet to find buyers.
According to local authorities, the commune has planned to use 436 hectares of coastal land for oyster breeding, over 300 hectares of which has already been cultivated. Around 6,000 tonnes of oysters worth over VND100 billion (USD4.8 million) in the commune are still unsold.
Normally the majority of oysters grown here are for export. However, due to economic downturn, it has been hard for farmers to find viable export markets. As a result they have been forced to sell domestically since late last year. But domestic sales are modest, most buyers being restaurants and food shops.
Even though prices have fallen to around VND14,000 (USD.07) per kilo, down from between VND24,000-25,000 (USD1.15-USD1.19) per kilo last year, sales remain slow.
Typically growers invest around VND800 million (USD38,332) per a hectare of oyster fields, and can harvest from 40-50 tonnes of oyster from one hectare. The current low prices and slow sales have put the growers in a position where they are incurring losses.
Vu Van Dinh, Vice Chairman of Da Loc Communal People’s Committee said, “Local oyster growers are struggling to find markets for their products. Farmers have yet to find any solution and are in desperate need of help.”
Nguyen Thi Hoa from Da Loc Commune’s Yen Dong Hamlet, said her family has one hectare of mature oysters but have not been able to sell them for more than a year.
"Before we were waiting for the prices to rise, but now, we can't even sell with the reduced prices. We are in trouble and unable to pay our debts," she said.
Farmers forced to hire guards for their unsold oysters
The same situation exists in other communes in the district such as Minh Loc, Hoa Loc and Hung Loc.
Nguyen Van Hoang, Chairman of the district People’s Committee said, “Local farmers have anywhere from 20,000-30,000 tonnes of unsold oysters. We’re trying to boost domestic sales to ease farmer’s financial burdens.”
According to Hoang, authorities in Hau Loc District are calling on enterprises in Vung Tau City to invest in building a seafood processing plant. The provincial government has approved the project but the implementation poses its own difficulties due to substandard transport infrastructure and the district’s insufficient budget.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has given approval to a plan to set up agencies that specialise in oyster quality control in order to find export markets in Europe, he added.
