Shrimp by-products may post hefty revenue

Items made from the shrimp by-products of Vietnam Food JSC are showcased on the sidelines of an international seminar held on October 3 in Can Tho City – PHOTO: TRUNG CHANH.

CAN THO - Shrimp by-products comprising shrimp heads and shells have great potential for growth and could generate revenue of US$3 billion in coming years if local shrimp processors learn to appropriately deploy and invest in advanced technology and science, heard a seminar on October 3 in Can Tho City.

Speaking on the sidelines of the seminar on solutions and technologies to increase the value of Vietnamese shrimp by-products, Phan Thanh Loc, vice chairman of the board of directors at Vietnam Food (VNF) JSC, which has operated in the shrimp by-product processing sector for years, said the by-products are sold as raw materials after being steamed, dried and ground.

However, if processors leverage suitable scientific methods and technology to extract, concentrate and refine these by-products, they could create considerable added value. With years of experience in the shrimp by-product processing sector, Loc said that the sector could not achieve any growth without the application of science and technology.

According to his preliminary evaluation, adequate investment in processing shrimp by-products could help the country earn at least US$1 billion over the next few years and could reach US$3 billion if the investment was maintained.

To hit the target, the State should identify the shrimp by-product processing sector as a new industry and build policies to encourage its growth, Loc remarked.

Addressing the seminar, Trang Sy Trung, president of Nha Trang University, which has conducted plenty of research on the shrimp sector, said local shrimp exporters mainly export shrimp meat products, while shrimp shells and heads are categorized as rejects and are sold at low prices as raw materials for animal feed.

However, Trung said that shrimp by-products could be turned into a valuable resource if local firms learn to exploit it and invest in it by applying modern technology, particularly as the volume of these by-products is forecast to surge in the coming period.

Last year, Vietnam obtained an output of over 720,000 tons of shrimp, but the amount of by-products exceeded 320,000 tons. The by-products are expected to hit some 370,000 tons out of an estimated output of 830,000 tons by 2020, and five years later, these figures will likely pick up to 500,000 tons and 1.15 million tons, respectively, stated Trung.