Malaysia sees lower sea prawn prices due to nationwide oversupply

JOHOR BAHRU – For two consecutive nights, Ms Loh Mui Peng’s family enjoyed steamed sea prawns drizzled with soya sauce and Chinese cooking wine.

“I steamed them with the shell on and with a simple seasoning of sesame oil, soya sauce, white pepper, ginger and Chinese cooking wine as I wanted to keep the sweetness of the prawns,” said Ms Loh, 60.

“The dish was a hit with my family.”

The sumptuous dinners came courtesy of a drop in the price of fresh sea prawns because of an oversupply. Ms Loh said she used to buy prawns infrequently as they tended to be pricey.

“Large sea prawns that are almost the size of my hand were considered a luxury for us due to the price,” said the mother of one.

“During Chinese New Year, they can cost more than RM100 (S$29) per kg.

“So, when I heard the fishmonger saying that sea prawns are cheap at the moment, I decided to buy RM70 worth at the wet market last week, which amounted to about 2kg.”

She plans to buy another 2kg of sea prawns this weekend to share with her daughter, who does not have time to go to the wet market because of work commitments.

Wild prawn catches of up to five times the usual amount have led to an oversupply of the crustaceans nationwide. This has also caused the price of sea prawns, called udang laut – typically sold at RM48 a kg for medium-sized ones – to drop by RM10, or about 20 per cent.

Malaysia Fish Suppliers’ Association deputy president Tai Wai Sun said the abundance of sea prawns was due to high tides and strong currents, particularly on the west coast of Malaysia.

“The strong currents swept the seabed, causing the prawns to swim closer to the surface,” he said.

“Fishing trawlers have been netting sea prawns weighing up to one tonne daily for the past few weeks compared with the usual few hundreds of kg previously.”

Mr Tai said the price reduction could be seen all over the country as the west coast fishermen supply seafood nationwide as well as to Singapore.

The fishing community, he said, started seeing this phenomenon of big catches in the second half of June.

He explained that it was a seasonal occurrence, and that fishermen would not always enjoy such good harvests. “However, we are now faced with an oversupply of prawns because the quantities have gone way up but the buying power has not changed much,” he said.

“This has caused markets to be in a ‘mess’, as fishermen are selling the prawns cheap to avoid keeping the stock for too long as it can go stale.”

Mr Tai said some of the prawns are sold cheaply via live e-commerce sites, while others are sold to factories to pack and process into frozen products.

Mr Tai, who is also the Johor Bahru Fish Suppliers’ Association chairman, said this was a good time for consumers to get sea prawns at a cheaper price as some fishermen have started seeing signs of dwindling harvests in the past few days.

Mr Teo Yew Song, who runs a third-generation seafood wholesale business at the Taman Perling wet market in Johor Bahru, said his suppliers from Perak, Penang and Pontian in Johor have had an abundance of sea prawns each day. “Their fishing trawlers could catch up to one tonne of sea prawns each day, compared with the usual 100kg to 200kg,” he said.

Besides sea prawns, he said, the price of solo prawns, or udang solo, has also dropped – to RM20 a kg from RM25 a kg.

Despite the price reduction, he found no significant increase in consumer purchases.

“There was a slight jump in demand from food and beverage businesses, but for the average consumer, they are still buying about 1kg to 2kg during each shopping trip,” Mr Teo said.

“Furthermore, we advise them to purchase in accordance with their consumption as sea prawns are best enjoyed fresh.”

A fishmonger in Skudai who gave his name only as Mr Chong said his customers were happy with the lower price. “The large sea prawns, which could go up to RM80 per kg, are usually not popular among my customers due to the price.

“But they can now buy them for RM70 per kg,” he said, adding that the price of farmed prawns remained unchanged, with medium-sized tiger prawns going for RM30 a kg. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK