Toan Dao : Seafood Source Thailand-based seafood trader Siam Canadian Group is working to deliver cargoes from Vietnam for its customers in other countries, despite the global outbreak of COVID-19, the company’s country manager for Vietnam, Bowie Leung, told SeafoodSource this week. Siam Canadian resumed its operations in Vietnam on 23 April following a period of social distancing mandated by a government order imposed in the beginning of April to contain the spread of the deadly virus in the country. “For the time being, we are still busy to push shipments for retail buyers [planned to export] earlier and making new offers for supermarkets,” Leung said. Siam Canadian has customers in both the foodservice and retail sectors. Due to the spread of COVID-19, shipments for the foodservice sector have been postponed. But demand from the retail sector remains “rather strong,” Leung said, noting that during the ongoing pandemic, the company has received various new orders from retailers and supermarkets, particularly from the United States, Canada, the European Union, China, and Taiwan. As such, business results for Siam Canadian’s Vietnam operations have so far matched with last year. Every year, Siam Canadian exports between 800 and 900 containers of seafood products from Vietnam to other markets. Black tiger shrimp and whiteleg shrimp are among the company’s key export items, along with pangasius, sea fish, and other species. Leung said material shrimp prices in Vietnam have already risen this month, and this trend is expected to continue in the next three months. There may be some adjustments in prices in August and September during peak harvesting seasons, but prices are not expected to decline significantly in the third quarter. With material prices on the rise and the outbreak of COVID-19 has largely controlled in Vietnam, most local shrimp farmers are rushing to stock ponds, according to Leung. As of 28 April, Vietnam had 270 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with no deaths. More than 80 percent of patients who have contracted coronavirus in the country have already recovered, the country’s Ministry of Health said.