C E Chief Editor Overview

Hello avid readers, and welcome to another edition of THE CRUST. Recently the numbers came up online, and we were able to see how well the countries fare regarding last year’s shrimp production. Ecuador is still dominating as the number one vannamei exporter in the world with its record production, followed by India, which still has a solid production base despite the recent plummet in global price. Other than these two countries, other contenders in the region are also trying to ramp up their shrimp industry. We see more and more Bangladesh-produced shrimps coming into the market. In addition, other Latin American countries are starting to produce and fill the global supply. Who knows which other country that will contend for the top spot?

While we were discussing this, a question came up. What happened to the state of the South East Asian shrimp industry? The region previously dominating the vannamei industry is now trailing behind just the two countries. Thailand, which used to be the champion in this sector, is now focusing on its niche market with its limited production. Despite its vast potential, Indonesia still needs to improve a lot to increase its production. Vietnam seems to be the only country in the region with its production sorted out, with more than half a million tons of output and solid local consumption. So it begs the question: How can SEA come back as the leading exporter of shrimp? Can SEA compete in the US market despite its clear disadvantage against Ecuador, which is conveniently located next door? Will there be any efforts to open new markets to increase global demand? Do SEA countries need to work together to tackle these challenges? It seems like this will be a hot topic this year in this region. Especially with two big conferences, TARS and the new Shrimp Summit, focusing on addressing the matter this year. However, 2023 will present its own challenges and uncertainty to other countries outside the SEA region too. Such as: Can Ecuador and India maintain their impressive production or even increase it? Will there be new diseases coming from these regions? Will the global demand shrink further due to conflicts or other causes? Nobody knows what is coming this year, 2023, and it will be interesting as always. What we can do now is keep a lookout for updates, and focus on what we do best: farming.

Rizky Darmawan Chief Editor