Bumper crop a curse in disguise for salt farmers

Bumper salt harvest this year has brought no cheer to farmers in many Mekong Delta provinces who are worried about their livelihoods as prices continue to drop and more imports are planned, a SGGP study has found.

In the communes of Long Dien Tay, Long Dien Dong, and Dien Hai of Dong Hai District in Bac Lieu Province, the faces of all salt farmers we met were lined with worry just days after the Tet (lunar New Year) festival, when the salt harvest entered it peak.

Said Trinh Van Thanh, a well-known salt farmer in Long Dien Tay: “Salt prices have gone down sharply these days. White salt now sells for just less than VND700 per kg, down by VND100-200 per kg, while black salt sells lower, at about VND460 per kg, a drop of about VND200 per kg.”

The situation has become much worse when we are unable to find buyers, he added.

This salt season, Thanh invested more than VND100 million (US$5,260) to produce white salt and reaped a harvest of over 100 tons, but he has been able to sell just 10 tons to the Dong Hai Salt Company.

“No traders wants to buy my remaining salt,” he said.

He said he could harvest about 100 tons more by the end of the crop, so if the situation is not improved soon, heavy losses are inevitable

Another farmer, Nguyen Van Thuong, who owns three hectares of salt, said: “Unlike in previous years, when traders rushed in to buy salt, this year the trade has cooled down seriously.”

We found the same situation prevailed in Ba Tri and Binh Dai districts in Ben Tre Province.

“Last year we were able to sell salt for more than VND1,200, even VND2,000, per kg, and traders could buy up all our production. But this year, the price has dropped to just VND500-550 per kg,” said Nguyen Van Ngang, a farmer in Binh Dai District’s Thanh Phuoc Commune.

Ngo Van Cao, deputy chairman of the People’s Commitee of Bao Thanh Commune, Ba Tri District, said the commune is the province’s key salt supplier with 729 hectares devoted for salt production.

The out-of-season rains in January caused damage worth billions of dong to salt farmers, he said. So they were hoping to recoup some of the losses with income from the bumper harvest, but the drop in prices has ruined their hopes.”

Mai Thanh Hung, deputy head of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of Dong Hai District, Bac Lieu Province, said thanks to expanded salt production area, production by April is estimated at 80,000-90,000 tons. Given that salt prices are declining, the trade will sharply slow down this year.”

“More than 32,000 tons of salt are placed on fields as nobody wants to buy them,” he said, adding that selling them has no become a headache for district authorities.

In Soc Trang, many salt farmers are also suffering since they have not been able to recoup production costs, including interest on loans taken, said Hua Si Hung, head of the province’s Vinh Chau District Agriculture and Rural Development Department.

Threat from imported salt

Already facing a heavy loss from declining salt prices, most farmers are worried that imported salt will make their situation more difficult, since the Ministry of Industry and Trade has assigned several companies to import 170,000 tons of salt, part of the plan for importing a total of 260,000 tons this year.

Discussing this issue with SGGP, Le Xuan, head of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Products Processing and Salt Industry under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said: “Salt is imported every year to meet the needs of the country. This year, total salt production is estimated at 1-1.1 million tons, 200,000 tons higher than in 2009, while the demand is forecast to be 1.3 million tons.”

“An important issue is when salt should be imported, in order to keep the domestic price of salt from reducing and thereby protecting the livelihoods of a large number of salt farmers across the country,” he said.

Some experts said the world price of salt is now low at US$30-40 per ton, and after imported to Vietnam, it can be sold for VND800 per kg, lower than the domestically produced salt.

Moreover, thanks to its better quality, imported salt will be preferred by traders and manufacturers that use salt as raw material, he said.

In such a situation, made-in-Vietnam salt will become more difficult to sell and prices can decline remarkably, he warned.

He said relevant agencies need to find ways to stem the decline in salt prices and help farmers very soon.

VietNamNet/SGGP

Tags: Vietnam salt, Vietnam salt import