Vietnam’s shrimp exports to China in the first-half of this year achieved a value of USD 282.9 million (EUR 240.1 million), which represented an increase of 30 percent year-on-year, said the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).
The association has forecast further growth in the country’s shrimp exports to the Chinese market, which it said has become a very important for many Vietnamese shrimp exporters this year, thanks to its large population and strong demand for seafood.
As well as being a major shrimp consumer, China also imports shrimp for processing and re-export.
Because China requires overseas processing plants to have Chinese-granted codes and to be included in a list of its approved exporters to gain entry into the country, VASEP has also been urging Vietnamese operations to focus on improving product quality to ensure that they continue to make strong inroads in the market.
Overall, Vietnam earned more than USD 1.5 billion (EUR 1.3 billion) from its shrimp exports in the first-half of this year, an increase of 15.7 percent, with Japan replacing the United States as the leading importer of Vietnamese shrimp. China is ranked fourth in value terms, behind the third-placed EU market.
Vietnam’s shrimp exports are forecast to keep growing in the second-half of the year, especially during the Christmas and New Year holidays. For the whole of 2017, the trade is expected to reach a level of USD 3.4 billion (EUR 2.9 billion), which would be 9 percent more than last year.
The country’s total shrimp harvest is expected to increase slightly to 660,000 metric tons (MT) this year.
