Mini lobsters cost tens of thousands of dong each

Lobster has long been considered one of the most luxurious seafood in Vietnam, often expensive. However, recently small-sized shrimp appeared on online markets at shocking prices, from only 15,000-40,000 VND per shrimp, attracting great attention from consumers.

Ms. Ngoc Tuyet, a small trader in Tan Binh district, Ho Chi Minh City, said this is the lowest price ever. Previously, each mini lobster (25-27 pieces per kg) cost from 35,000-70,000 VND, now it is halved.

To commit to quality, Ms. Tuyet says “everything is covered”, allowing customers to check the goods before paying.

Similarly, Ms. Khanh Ngoc, owner of a seafood store in District 7, also sells this type of seafood at prices starting from 25,000 VND each. According to her, most of the cheap shrimp like this are due to suffocation (death due to lack of oxygen) or small shrimp separated from cages to sell for capital.

“I can only import about 200-400 of this type each batch, only one batch every 4 days,” said Ms. Khanh Ngoc.

Many business contacts on seafood sales groups, especially in Ho Chi Minh City, also sell mini shrimp for the price of just a bunch of vegetables. Some types of frozen or iced food are much cheaper than the raw variety, which costs twice as much.

According to Mr. Doan Van Quang, Director of Song Cau General Services Cooperative (Phu Yen), cheap mini shrimp are mainly dead or diseased goods that farmers are forced to sell off to traders. Their quality is definitely not as good as live seafood, but if preserved well, they can still be used.

He also said that commercial-standard blue lobsters usually weigh 180-200 grams each, while larger ones weigh over 400 grams. Shrimp smaller than this usually have less meat and are of poorer quality.

In fact, this record low price also reflects the difficulties of the high-end seafood farming industry recently. From mid-2024, the consumer market in key regions such as Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa and Ninh Thuan will fall into a gloomy situation. Domestic demand declined, while China – the main export market – reduced purchasing, causing a large amount of products to be backlogged. Input costs, from seeds to feed, are also escalating. As a result, many farming households suffered heavy losses, from several hundred million to billions of dong.

Currently, the price of green shrimp at farming households ranges from 700,000 to 850,000 VND per kg, while cotton exceeds 1 million VND per kg. However, consumption is still sluggish. Faced with economic pressure and price uncertainty, many households have temporarily stopped raising spiny lobsters, waiting for a better situation.

This special type of seafood is a staple product in Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa and Ninh Thuan provinces, accounting for more than 95% of the country’s area and output, with a total annual output of about 3,300 tons. However, the farming area is gradually shrinking due to unstable prices and increasingly strict import regulations from China.