At USD 3.85 billion (EUR 3.1 billion), the value of Vietnam’s shrimp exports increased by 22.3 percent last year, building on the 6.7 percent growth recorded in 2016. The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) also reported positive growth in shrimp exports to most of the Southeast Asian country’s main markets in 2017.
Increased supply and favorable exchange rates facilitated the strong growth, said VASEP.
According to the Directorate of Fisheries (D-Fish), Vietnam’s total shrimp output reached 723,800 metric tons (MT) last year. Of this, brackish water contributed 683,400 MT, including 256,400 MT of black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) and 427,000 MT of whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei). The land area dedicated to brackish water shrimp farming was 721,100 hectares, of which black tiger shrimp production used 622,400 hectares and whiteleg shrimp farming occupied 98,700 hectares.
With the exception of the United States, Vietnam grew its shrimp exports to all its major markets in 2017. The EU market has risen to become the country’s main market, while the States has slipped to fourth place. China demonstrated the most growth in imports of Vietnamese shrimp – up 56.8 percent compared with 2016.
Exports to the EU were valued at USD 862.8 million (EUR 700.2 million), up 43.7 percent. Of the bloc’s three main buyers of Vietnam shrimp, sales to the Netherlands posted the highest growth of 71.6 percent, followed by the United Kingdom and Germany with the rises of 55.5 percent and 52.1 percent respectively.
Vietnam’s shrimp exports to the U.S. market fell 7 percent compared with 2016 to USD 659.2 million (EUR 535 million), which VASEP attributed to the higher anti-dumping tax.
Exports to China, meanwhile, reached USD 683.2 million (EUR 554.4 million), and the association expects the Chinese market to overtake Japan as the second largest buyer of Vietnamese shrimp in the first-quarter of 2018.
With the world price of shrimp remaining stable in the first two months of 2018, Vietnam’s shrimp exports in the first quarter of 2018 are projected to keep the upward trend with an increase of about 5 percent, said VASEP.
