Vietnam exported USD 2.3 billion (EUR 1.9 billion) worth of shrimp in the first eight months of this year, representing an increase of 21.3 percent year-on-year.
The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said that the trade growth is the result of a larger shrimp farming area and the subsequent increase in yield. More than 679,000 hectares (up 4.2 percent) of brackish water was dedicated to shrimp farming in the January through August 2017 period, providing in excess of 363,000 metric tons (MT) of product (up 21.4 percent).
With regard to the species exported, Vietnam shipped USD 1.2 billion (EUR 1 billion) worth of whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) in the eight months, which was 29 percent more than in the corresponding period of 2016. Its black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) exports, meanwhile, amounted to USD 605.9 million (EUR 512.9 million), down 5 percent year-on-year.
The EU has been Vietnam’s No. 1 shrimp market this year, importing USD 483.6 million (EUR 409.4 million) worth of product in the opening eight months of 2017, up 30 percent-year-on-year.
However, the United States has slipped to fourth place in terms of export value. Vietnam shipped USD 416 million (EUR 352.1 million) worth of shrimp to the U.S. market in the same eight-month period, which was down 4.4 percent year-on-year.
VASEP said that shrimp shipments to the United States in the first-half of this year were on a downward trend due to the rise in the anti-dumping duties that the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) announced in the preliminary decision on its 11th administrative review (POR11), as well as the dollar's depreciation brought by new policies on domestic production protection.
At the same time, Vietnamese shrimp faces strong competition from India, it said.
Nevertheless, Vietnam’s shrimp sales to the States increased in the months May through August, and are forecast to rise further still in the months ahead as demand tends to heighten at the end of the year.
VASEP also said that thanks to good demand from Asian markets (Japan, China, South Korea) and the EU, Vietnam’s shrimp exports in 2017 are projected to total USD 3.4 billion (EUR 2.9 billion), which would be 6 percent more than last year.
