The number of shrimp processors operating in the Thai industry has plummeted from 100 two years ago to less than 20, an executive with Marine Gold (MRG) told IntraFish.

The consolidation has made MRG the second-largest shrimp buyer in Thailand, behind Thai Union, said Marketing Executive Panuwat Wattanakurungrueang.

"So many manufacturers have closed. Now it is only the big companies left," he said of an industry plagued by the devastation of the Early Mortality Syndrome (EMS) crisis five years ago, rising production costs and free-falling prices.