BANGKOK, 27 April 2015 – Thailand’s shrimp industry has begun to recover from last year’s outbreak of Early Mortality Syndrome (EMS). However, farmers have struggled to meet the supply demands of Thai Union Frozen Products PCL (TUF), which has been looking to expand exports to India.
TUF Managing Director Rittirong Boonmechote revealed that the company expected shrimp exports to grow to 30 billion baht this year. Of that value, frozen perishables would constitute 28 billion baht.
TUF has been optimistic about the industry, despite a recent EMS outbreak that killed 650,000 tons of shrimp. The bacterial epidemic slashed last year’s production to 210,000 tons.
The Department of Fisheries worked quickly to resolve the issue. The industry has shown promising signs of recovery in the first quarter of fiscal 2015. The department forecast this year’s shrimp production to grow by 20-25 percent to 250,000-270,000 tons.
