Supply disruptions hitting seafood

The billion-dollar seafood product industry is in a worrying state because of disruptions to domestic supply chains.

It is forecasted that in the next 3 months, shrimp materials will be seriously lacking, businesses cannot meet orders for foreign partners in the last months of the year.

According to calculations by VASEP, the average time for enterprises to restore 50% of capacity is from 3 to 6 months; restoring 70% of production capacity needs from 9 months - 1 year; Restoring 100% of production capacity takes about 1.5 - 2 years. The production recovery of enterprises is being greatly affected by causes such as interrupted revenue and cash flow, escalating input prices, disruption of raw - fuel - materials supply and labor force. move…

SHORT OF INGREDIENTS FOR YEAR-END ORDER IN THE US

With the outbreak of the disease, farmers in the Mekong Delta reduced their shrimp and fish farming areas, making raw materials for the aquaculture industry at risk of serious shortages in the coming months. This is a concern raised by businesses at an online conference to discuss solutions to remove difficulties, restore processing and export of agricultural and aquatic products on September 17.

"We actively raise shrimp prices, but many people are still worried that disease outbreaks will affect prices in the future, so they reduce the farming area," said Le Van Quang, General Director of Aquaculture Corporation. Minh Phu said. With the above situation, Mr. Phu forecast that in the next 3 months, shrimp materials will be seriously lacking, businesses cannot meet orders for foreign partners in the last months of the year.

Seafood production and processing enterprises in Tien Giang and An Giang are also in the same situation because farmers are afraid to re-raise seafood. The reason is that their fish, shrimp and crab products over the past time, due to the influence of the Covid-19 prevention and control distance, have been congested and difficult to consume. Meanwhile, the processing capacity at many factories is only about 30-40% because of "3 on-site" work.

To remove difficulties for businesses, Mr. Quang suggested that the government should encourage people to raise shrimp right now so that by the end of November, there will be raw shrimp for processing and exporting to other countries. He also suggested that localities give priority to vaccinating workers so that they can return to production soon.

Sharing the same view, Mr. Nguyen Hoai Nam, Deputy General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), said that localities should soon allow businesses to reopen. The association hopes that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will consult with localities to soon approve the "3-on-the-spot" operation plan so that businesses can operate soon and consider removing the 14-day isolation rule for force. to harvest fish in the provinces by PCR testing.

According to calculations by VASEP, the average time for enterprises to restore 50% of capacity is from 3 to 6 months; restoring 70% of production capacity needs from 9 months - 1 year; It takes about 1.5 - 2 years to restore 100% of production capacity.

Ms. Truong Thi Le Khanh, General Director of Vinh Hoan Joint Stock Company, said that the pangasius industry is also under great pressure. Thousands of tons of overgrown pangasius are waiting in the pond, farmers are at risk of losses, but workers who harvest pangasius, despite ensuring the conditions for disease prevention, are still required to quarantine for 14 days when entering the locality, leading to break the whole production chain. "If this situation continues, the pangasius industry will still be affected until 2022. Currently, we are still fortunate to maintain 50% of capacity, but to restore 100% as before, the company has not yet. know until now," said Ms. Khanh.

According to a representative of VASEP, in mid-July, many businesses only calculated that the epidemic lasted for 2-3 weeks, no one assessed that the epidemic lasted for 2 months or more. In the event that businesses are allowed to return to normal production after easing the distance after September 15, the ability to meet orders for the year-end holiday season is also quite limited. New orders are almost impossible to fulfill.

THE LABOR FORCE is hard to recover as before

In addition to the lack of raw material supply, the recovery of production of seafood enterprises is also being greatly affected by the difficulty of regrouping the labor force as in the beginning. The reason is that workers have not been vaccinated, so they cannot go to the production facility, have returned to their hometown, are isolated, are being treated for Covid-19 ... or the operation of "3 places" for a long time also causes workers to tired.

Currently, only about 30% of seafood processing factories in this area can maintain moderate production under the conditions of "3 on-site". With factories that can, the number of workers that can be mobilized is only 10 - 50% of the number of employees. According to the survey results of VASEP, the rate of vaccination for workers at seafood processing factories in the provinces from the South Central region onward reaches an average of 30-35% for the first dose, the second injection rate. is very low, less than 5%.

This not only affects the psychology of businesses, but also especially affects the production plan and production resilience. Mr. Tran Quoc Manh, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Saigon Commercial Production Development Joint Stock Company (Sadaco), said that the percentage of workers vaccinated with vaccines in small and medium-sized enterprises is still limited because enterprises have poor stamina and are not enough. the ability to operate "3 in place". Besides, the enterprises producing in moderation do not have a say while the vaccination policy mainly focuses on industrial zones.

In addition to the issue of prioritizing vaccination for workers, Mr. Nguyen Hoai Nam, representative of VASEP, said that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development should consult with the Ministry of Health soon for guidance on testing. in business; in which, clearly stipulates the percentage of workers to be tested, the time to re-test, and specifically for the following cases: unvaccinated, injected with 1 dose and injected with 2 doses.

At the same time, the business should not be closed down to the extreme if the infection is only confined to a single line/factory/department. Localities allow workers stuck in hostels to return to their hometown or return to work before being tested. At the same time, they should be tested for free, and support for travel expenses so that they can return to their hometown or work when the test is negative.

According to VASEP, when the remaining employees are tired because of "3 places", the new benefits will contribute to motivating and boosting the spirit of production. VASEP has asked the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor to support meals for employees, petitioning Vietnam Social Security to join hands in paying salaries with businesses...