Shrimp exports over US$4 billion is in hand

As the seafood export item with the strongest growth rate in 2020, in 2021, shrimp exports continue to record positive signals. With many favourable conditions in terms of market demand, good competitiveness compared to competitors, the goal of exporting shrimp more than US$4 billion is "in hand” this year.

In 2021, there are many favourable conditions for shrimp production and export. Photo: N. Thanh

Many happy signals

Recently, good news has come to "giants" in the Vietnamese shrimp industry in particular and the whole industry in general. It is Minh Phu Fisheries Group Joint Stock Company that received a complaint settlement decision from the US Customs and Border Protect (CBP), which canceled the decision issued previously on October 13, 2020 on the tax application and anti-dumping with Indian shrimp on shrimp products exported from Minh Phu to the United States.

This decision allows Minh Phu to continue to export frozen shrimp to the US without incurring additional anti-dumping tax on Indian shrimp or any other anti-dumping tax. At the same time, Minh Phu Group was also refunded the anti-dumping taxes that were temporarily paid in accordance with the decision dated October 13, 2020.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade assessed this was an objective, fair decision, considering fully the information and efforts of Minh Phu Seafood Joint Stock Company and parties in the process of handling the case, helping create a healthy competitive environment between US shrimp producers and foreign export companies.

Before that, on January 5, the first batch ceremony of shrimp export took place in Hau Giang. Eight containers of cargo, each container contained about 20 tons of cargo, more than 160 tonnes of shrimp processed by Minh Phu Seafood Joint Stock Company opened the way for seafood to export to countries with many advantages.

According to the latest statistics of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in the first month of 2021, seafood export value was estimated at US$600 million, up 19.6% over the same period in 2020. Notably, for pangasius, prices of pangasius material were stagnant in the Mekong Delta in the early days of the year, large enterprises of Dong Thap, An Giang and Can Tho tended to produce half-heartedly, transactions with the Chinese market has faced difficulties due to the quarantine stage of Covid-19, shrimp products had positive signals.

The shrimp market in the first month of the year continued its upward trend from the end of last year. In Bac Lieu, frozen black tiger shrimp sized 20 shrimps per kg increased VND 20,000 per kg compared to the end of December 2020 to VND 320,000 per kg; size 30 shrimps per kg increased VND 20,000 per kg to VND 270,000 per kg. The price of frozen white shrimp sized 60 shrimps per kg increased kg VND increased 20,000 per kg to VND 130,000 per kg and size 70 shrimps per kg increased VND 15,000 per kg to VND 120,000 per kg.

Improving export of more than $4 billion

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), in 2021 there are many favourable conditions for shrimp production and export. Specifically, world demand remains stable while other exporting countries have not recovered. China is the largest shrimp supplier in Asia, but still lacks shrimp for processing and consumption. Along with that, Vietnamese shrimp also has tariff advantages for single Vietnam origin of farmed shrimp products in the new generation free trade agreements.

In early February 2021, the Agro-Product Processing and Market Development Bureau (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) stated Vietnam's shrimp exports were continuing to be favourable when world demand was still increasing, and many production countries still had trouble because of Covid-19. According to experts, the price of shrimp on the world market is forecast to increase in the first half of 2021.In terms of specific figures, it is forecast that shrimp exports will reach about $4.4 billion in 2021.

From the perspective of exporting enterprises, Vo Van Phuc, General Director of Vietnam Clean Seafood Joint Stock Company emphasised: “The Covid-19 pandemic makes the supply chain of the shrimp industry broken, from operations in factories to farming activities. With this condition, we are likely to achieve the targets for shrimp export”.

Referring to the angle of product diversification to suit consumer tastes in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, Le Van Quang, Chairman of Minh Phu Seafood Corporation, said it was necessary to promote production of value-added products such as breaded shrimp, boost exports to markets, especially markets in Japan and the US in the future.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien assessed that at present, the US, EU and China markets were very big markets for Vietnam. Vietnamese shrimp with a production level, technological scale and processing is not inferior to other nations in the world. To achieve the export target, right from the beginning of the year, units, firms and farmers must prepare conditions and release seed shrimp according to the 2021 seasonal calendar; attach importance to disease prevention, control impurities, chemical and antibiotic residue in shrimp products to ensure disease safety and food safety.

“In addition, it is necessary to strengthen links among units in the production chain to improve quality, ensure traceability, continue to increase the proportion of value-added products for export; promote production links, replicate effective models and production chains, maintain and develop output markets, and fight technical barriers,” Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien said.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in 2020, shrimp was the seafood export commodity with the highest growth rate, reaching $3.7 billion, up 11% over the same period in 2019. Thanks to the success in controlling Covid-19 that Vietnam's shrimp production and export activities had an advantage over rival supply markets. Shrimp firms try to maintain production, flexibly change the market and take advantage of opportunities. As a result, the export value to a large market grew positively such as: the US increased by 33%; EU increased 6.1%; South Korea increased by 3.3% and England increased by 20.1% from 2019.