Exports of shrimp to Taiwan quite stable

Taiwan (China) is the eighth largest shrimp import market of Vietnam, accounting for 1.7 percent of Vietnam's total shrimp export value. Vietnam's shrimp exports to Taiwan have been relatively stable since the beginning of the year.

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers, from the beginning of 2019, Vietnam's shrimp exported to Taiwan only decreased in January and April, the remaining months grew compared to the same period in 2018. In September 2019, shrimp exports to Taiwan exceeded $5 million, an increase of 15 percent compared to September 2018. In the first nine months of this year, shrimp export value to this market reached $41.9 million, up 13.9 percent over the same period in 2018.

In the first nine months of this year, Vietnam's shrimp exports to Taiwan grew not rapidly but with stability. By the end of September this year, shrimp exports to Taiwan achieved the best growth among the top 10 import shrimp markets of Vietnam.

Taiwanese were interested in tiger prawn from Vietnam, with the major items of fresh tiger prawns such as fresh frozen whole tiger prawn, butterfly-cut of fresh frozen whole tiger prawn, frozen meat of tiger prawn, frozen peeled undeveined shrimp (PUD). Fresh frozen whole tiger prawn exported to Taiwan was valued from $6 - $8/kg.

Besides that, Taiwan also imported whiteleg shrimp frozen meat, Nobashi peeled tail-on (PTO) whiteleg shrimp, peeled and deveined (PD) boiled frozen whiteleg shrimp and steamed sushi whiteleg shrimp.

Among Taiwan’s top four suppliers, shrimp imports into Taiwan from Vietnam and Honduras grew well while imports from Thailand plummeted. The average price of shrimp imports from Thailand to Taiwan was the highest, Vietnam was the second highest, China and Honduras have the most competitive prices. In the first six months of this year, the average import price from Vietnam to Taiwan ranged from $6.7 to $8.2/kg, the price from Thailand was from $6.1 to $8.5/kg, the price of imported shrimp from Honduras was from $5 - $6.4/kg, import prices from China was from $3.3 - $5.1/kg.

The proportion of Vietnam's shrimp exports to Taiwan has not increased during this period, because of the high import tax in this market (about 20 percent) and the strict application of hygiene and safety regulations and quarantine which has been adjusted and modified regularly.

However, Taiwan is a potential market for Vietnamese shrimp with diverse tastes and a large Vietnamese community. Taiwan's demand for shrimp imports has also been on an upward trend in recent years.

This market has practices of both Chinese and Japanese style in seafood consumption - the traditional export markets of Vietnamese enterprises.

In early October 2019, Taiwan Food and Drug Administration announced a list of 638 Vietnamese seafood manufacturing/companies that were allowed to export to this market. This information helped Vietnamese enterprises export to this market more conveniently.

Taiwanese rarely reserve food, so packaging should be compact, beautifully designed, and attached fully with instructions for use. With increases in income, Taiwanese consumers have tended to try new products, so when bringing goods into Taiwan, advertising and providing information is very important. Taiwanese consumers are rarely interested in the price of a product once it is provided with enough information that makes them trust. Those are factors that businesses should be concerned with when exporting to this market.