Vietnam exported shrimp worth USD 457 million (EUR 431.3 million) in May 2022, an increase of 31 percent year-on-year, with heightened sales to China accounting for much of the improvement.
The U.S. remained the largest buyer of shrimp from Vietnam in May, purchasing USD 99 million (EUR 93.4 million) worth of Vietnamese shrimp products in the month, up 2.8 percent from a year ago, but down from the 52 percent growth rate achieved in April. However, between January and May, Vietnam’s U.S. shrimp exports totaled USD 390 million (EUR 368 million), 21 percent higher year-on-year.
VASEP said demand from U.S. importers is unlikely to rise any time soon because stockpiles in the U.S. are at high levels as importers have purchased a large volume of shrimp from Vietnam, Indonesia, India, and Ecuador over the past few months.
Other factors such as high inflation in the U.S., China’s policies to contain the coronavirus, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, labor shortages, and disruptions in the supply chain in the U.S. are likely to affect sales and consumption of shrimp in the U.S., VASEP said.
Meanwhile, China’s purchases of Vietnamese shrimp have shot up in 2022. Monthly sales in May reached USD 88 million (EUR 83 million), a 126-percent increase from March 2021. In the first five months of 2022, Vietnam shipped shrimp worth USD 275 million (EUR 259.5 million) to China, growing 101 percent year-on-year.
The upsurge is due to the easing of COVID-19 related restrictions in China, according to Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP). VASEP said China has started to ease some restrictions previously enacted as part of the country’s “zero-COVID” policy. Also helping Vietnam’s exports to China was the fact that several major shrimp exporters from India and Ecuador were suspended from sending product to China after their products were found to be contaminated by traces of coronavirus.
Photo courtesy of Mark Godfrey/SeafoodSource
