THE SHRIMP industry said it expects production to keep up with demand as the holiday season approaches and with the recovery of the economy.
Christopher G. Co, Oversea Feeds Corp. vice-president, said at a recent virtual briefing at the 13th Philippine Shrimp Congress that farmers are waiting for the economy to pick up after the pandemic.
“Farmers are waiting to increase production because there is no point in trying to produce too much when the markets in the Philippines as well as the global market are having issues with purchasing power,” Mr. Co said.
Mr. Co said the production has had to be adjusted for weak demand.
“A lot of farmers have reduced their stocking densities to take into account the effect of the lockdown. The industry’s production should be somewhere in the vicinity of 60,000 metric tons (MT) this year,” Mr. Co said.
“As far as the farmgate prices of the shrimp, there has been a quick uptick by as much as P50 per kilogram in the past month to around P270, which is based on ten-gram shrimp. That already reflects the gradual reopening of our economy and that will encourage farmers to… restock their idle ponds,” he added.
For the remainder of 2021, Mr. Co said: “We’re still hoping that December will be good for us. Hopefully, it will continue to next year. It really depends on our economy,” Mr. Co said. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
