Vietnam achieved its largest-ever year-over-year growth in shrimp export value in June, as the country's shipments to most of its major markets rose compared to last year.
The country’s value of shrimp exports increased 19.2 percent year-on-year to USD 349.9 million (EUR 305 million) in the month, which is higher than the preliminary number of USD 305.2 million (EUR 266 million) announced earlier this month, according to data from Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) on 22 July.
From January to June, the export value climbed 5.7 percent to USD 1.5 billion (EUR 1.3 billion).
Vannamei accounted for 70.1 percent of the country’s total exports of shrimp in the first six months, with the black tiger shrimp accounting for 18.2 percent and sea shrimp making up the remainder. Sales of vannamei far outpaced those of black tiger shrimp, VASEP said in its report.
The export value to the United States, the biggest buyer of Vietnamese shrimp, grew 54.4 percent year-on-year in June from the same month last year, VASEP said, without providing a figure.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, the value of Vietnam's shrimp exports to the U.S. rose 29 percent from a year earlier to USD 323.3 million (EUR 281.7 million) in the first half of 2020. In the U.S., shrimp from Vietnam became more competitive than other exporters, such as India and Ecuador, because production in Vietnam has remained steady due to the country's successful containment of the coronavirus outbreak domestically. That has not been the case in other shrimp-producing powerhouses, with at least 17 countries reducing shipments to the U.S. in May. Therefore, U.S. demand for Vietnamese shrimp is likely to rise to offset the declines in shipments from other suppliers, VASEP said.
In June, the export value that Vietnam gained from China also jumped 23 percent year-on-year to USD 57.7 million (EUR 50.3 million), as other suppliers like Ecuador and India have been encountering obstacles in sending shrimp shipments to China.
Sales of Vietnamese shrimp to Japan and the European Union contracted in June. However, thanks to the growth of exports to those countries in previous months, Vietnam's export value to Japan still rose in the first six months to USD 278.2 million (EUR 242.4 million), up 1.9 percent year-on-year. In the period, the export value to the E.U. shrank 7 percent year-on-year to USD 200.7 million (EUR 175 million).
Shrimp prices in Vietnam were in the rise in June. And as stockpiles in Japan, the U.S., and the E.U. were not as high as previous expectations, exports of shrimp from Vietnam are expected to continue to rise in the coming months, VASEP said.
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