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Southern salt makers reap bumper crop
Salt makers in the Mekong Delta are enjoying the best harvest season they have had in recent years due to increases in both price and production.
Bay An, a salt maker in Bac Lieu Province’s Dong Hai District, said at this time last year he sold a ton of salt at VND700,000 (US$42).
Now, the price has doubled to VND1.4 million ($84) per ton.
An produced around 50 tons of salt on his 1.2-hectare field and estimated that net profit would reach VND36 million ($2,165).
With the rise in the price of salt, salt makers said they can reap an average profit of VND25 million ($1,500) per hectare, five times higher than the profit margin three years ago.
Many salt makers in Dong Hai District said they could earn enough money this year to repair or build houses.
Luong Ngoc Lan, deputy head of Bac Lieu Province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the total production of salt in the province this year was 90,800 tons, half of which have been sold already.
The province has about 2,000 hectares of salt fields – the largest in the Mekong Delta – and salt production in the province alone could meet the demand for the entire Delta, Lan said.
Ben Tre Province in the Mekong Delta, meanwhile, recently reported that it has around 800 hectares of salt fields.
However, the salt production areas are probably larger than officially reported as locals estimate that the province’s Ba Tri District alone has nearly 1,000 hectares of salt fields with an average yield of 45 tons per hectare, almost the same as previous years.
Kieu Van Chue, deputy head of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the number of salt makers keeps increasing in accordance with the steadyrise in the price of salt starting two years ago.
Dao Cong Thanh, director of the Tien Giang Province Branch of the Southern Salt and Trading Joint Stock Company, said his branch purchased 600-700 tons of salt every month from local producers.
Salt supplies were readily available as producers had ample stocks in storage.
Salt production in some central provinces has also been plentiful this year.
Ninh Thuan Province, for example, reported its salt production increased by 20 percent compared to last year.
Pham Cong Dung, an official of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the ministry has proposed the government import more salt to meet domestic demand.
According to the ministry, the demand for salt in 2008 is expected to be around 1.3 million tons, while the country can only produce about 940,000 tons.
Thanhnien
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