Recovery in shrimp exports to Japan and EU

After the recovery in 2016, Vietnam shrimp exports in the early 2017 climbed down. The sales in Jan 2017 hit US$198.7 million; down 12.6% year on year.

The decline was due to technical barriers from importing markets, lower demand from major markets. Besides, the supply of raw shrimp was limited due to the early crop, so the processing companies lack of raw material for processing.

Among total shrimp products for exports in Jan 2017, the proportion of whiteleg shrimp rose with 64%, that of black tiger shrimp downed (26.5%), marine shrimp with 9.5%. Frozen/live/fresh whiteleg shrimp (HS 03) was the product with the largest sales of US$68.6 million; processed whiteleg shrimp (HS 16) ranked the second with US$58.6 million.

Among total sales of whiteleg shrimp and black tiger shrimp in Jan 2017, the sales of other processed black tiger shrimp (HS 16) reported the deepest dive of 39.6%; sales of processed whiteleg shrimp (HS 16) reported the best growth of 5.3%.

Top 10 major markets included the EU, Japan, the US, China, South Korea, Canada, ASEAN, Australia, Taiwan and Switzerland, accounting for 94.8% of Vietnam’s total shrimp exports.

In Jan 2017, Vietnam shrimp exports to major markets like the US, China, Korea and Australia saw the decline in which exports to Australia reported the deepest dive of 45.5%. Sales to the US and China fell 27.3% and 33.8%, respectively.

In Jan 2017, the EU surpassed to take the lead in importing shrimp from Vietnam with the proportion of 21.9%. It was followed by Japan with 21.8%. The US ranked the third with 18.3% of the total shrimp exports by Vietnam to markets.

EU and Japan

Vietnam shrimp exports to the EU reported the highest growth of 17.1% with the sales of US$43.5 million. Exports to 3 main markets in the bloc reported the growth in which the Netherlands showed the strongest growth of 138.3%; to the UK and Belgium rose 19% and 15.1%, respectively.

Since Aug 2016, Vietnam shrimp exports to Japan reported continuous growth. In Jan 2017, shrimp exports to the market rose by 11% to reach US$43.4 million.

It is expected that Vietnam shrimp exports to the market will continue to rise.

Amid rising technical barriers from importing markets, Vietnam shrimp exports in Feb 2017 expected to fall slightly.