COVID-19
has disrupted the supply chain worldwide and fresh frozen seafood is no
exception. The seafood industry faces decrease in sales because of the
difficulties of some other related industries. This causes a ripple effect down
the supply chain.
In General Santos City, the Fresh Frozen Seafood
Association of the Philippines, Inc. (FFSAPI),
an exporter of fresh and frozen smoked processed Tuna
and high-value Tuna products, is grappling with the immediate impact of
COVID-19 as both their manufacturing and supply chain operations are being
disrupted while their customer operations contend with similar challenges.
According to Janet Daquiz, FFSAPI executive assistant,
demand for fresh and frozen smoked processed Tuna and high-value Tuna products
has ceased because of the pandemic. This is due to the closure of hotels,
restaurants, and catering facilities, including school and work canteens. On
top of this, high cargo shipping rate is constraining the shipment of the
products.
Meanwhile, for shrimps and milkfish, no orders are
forthcoming owing to the pandemic. Matured and oversized shrimps and milkfish
had to be sold at considerably lower prices to the local market.
Moreover, social distancing and employee safety
measures put an additional level of pressure on processor as 40%-50% of their
workforce are unavailable to perform their respective functions on-site due to
the mandated Inter-Agency Task Force regulation on COVID-19; low shipment; and high
bargaining power of buyers since some of the shipment were caught during the
lockdown. Buyers negotiated for lower prices given their economic difficulties as
well.
Turning now to the shrimp farm industry in neighboring
Sarangani. The province is host to almost 400 hectares of shrimp ponds.
According to Marjun Villanueva, asst. vice president, Charoen Pokphand Foods
Philippines Corp. and past president of SARGEN Shrimp Stakeholders Association,
Inc., “Most farmers stock their ponds in preparation for the ‘summer crop’.
However, COVID-19 presented a big challenge to the industry since almost
90% of our shrimp harvest are shipped to Manila which is our main market”.
Villanueva said the airport lockdown and flight cancellations
posed a huge problem since on a daily basis, this season, the harvest is around
10-15 tons. He added that farm-gate buying price now drops to ₱150.00 for 10-gm
size, a huge drop from the ₱240.00 farm-gate price before the occurrence of
this health threat.
“Lately, there are some domestic flights. Although they
are not regular but they can help ship shrimps from General Santos City to
Manila. Buying price of shrimp is still low and freight cost is still high at
P80.00 per kilo of shrimp”, Villanueva further explained.
“Farmers now are hesitant to stock their ponds for the
next crop and adopt a wait-and-see attitude while hoping that things will
return to normal soon”, concluded Villanueva.
