Vietnam still saw its exports of shrimp rise in the first two months of this year, despite the negative impacts from the coronavirus outbreak.
The country exported shrimp worth USD 383 million (EUR 358 million) in the two-month period, a hike of 2.6 percent compared to last year. Of the total, whiteleg shrimp accounted for USD 268.2 million (EUR 251 million), up 9 percent year-on-year, while giant tiger shrimp exports fell 19.4 percent to USD 73 million (EUR 68 million), according to data from the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).
Shrimp exports to Japan surged 16 percent in the period, making up for declines in other key markets, VASEP said. Exports to China and the European Union contracted 37 percent and 15 percent in export value in the two months, respectively. Shipments to China were hit hard due to the travel bans and lockdowns in several regions in China.
Shrimp exporters from Vietnam are hoping exports will recover in April, VASEP said. They will focus more on ocean shipping channels to ship shrimp to China, rather than via land border routes, which is encouraged by both Vietnam and China authorities.
The rapid spread of COVID-19 in Europe has made exporters very worried about the E.U. market’s status, VASEP said.
“Exporters are not able to make any other plan other than waiting for the situation to stabilize,” the trade group said.
Vietnam’s shrimp exports to South Korea were not impacted in the first two months of 2020, but VASEP said it doesn’t expect a return to normalcy there until June.
At present, the U.S. shrimp is largely focused on supermarket channels. Vietnam has faced increasing competition there as India and Ecuador have rerouted shrimp originally destined for China to the U.S.
Vietnam’s shrimp exporters are working toward diversifying their markets in order to reduce their reliance on the major markets affected by COVID-19, VASEP said.
Shrimp farmers in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta typically begin stocking in their first crop of whiteleg shrimp from January to April and will finish harvesting by early July.
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