Shrimp exports slide further in 2019, better outlook expected next year

Vietnam’s shrimp exports continued to shrink over the last 11 months in the face of fierce competition from other major exporters. But it is expected to make its way back next year with the EU-Vietnam trade deal coming into force.

The country exported about 3.1 billion USD worth of shrimp products in the firsth 11 months of this year, a year-on-year decrease of 8.2 percent, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) .

The VASEP said the shrimp exports are likely to total just 3.4 billion USD this year, down 4.4 percent from a year earlier and much lower than the yearly goal of 4 – 4.2 billion USD.

In 2019, Vietnamese shrimp has been under great pressure due to stiff competition from India and Indonesia which enjoyed bumper shrimp harvest.

Vietnam’s shrimp exports to four main markets – the US, China, the EU and Japan – saw opposite trends with those to the first two on the rise while the latters weakening.

Shrimp shipments to China continued to rebound after a drop at the beginning of the year, growing 9.2 percent to 438.6 million USD in the first 10 months.

The US, the second largest consumer of Vietnamese shrimp, imported 548.2 million USD worth of shrimp products from Vietnam between January and October, a slight increase of 1.4 percent.

Exports to the EU, the country’s largest buyer, valued at 580.8 million USD in the 10-month period, down 19.9 percent year on year. The EU accounts for about 31 percent of the world’s shrimp imports and 21 percent of those from Vietnam.

The value of shrimp shipments to Japan slightly declined 1.6 percent to 508.7 million USD.

It has been challenging to boost exports to the US because of the country’s trade barriers, such as anti-dumping duty imposed on Vietnamese shrimp, coupled with relatively lower prices of shrimp set by rivals like India, said VASEP Secretary General Truong Dinh Hoe.

Regarding the EU, he said Vietnamese producers must strictly comply with the EU’s origin and traceability rules in order to recover the export.

When the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) takes effect in 2020, Vietnamese shrimp will enjoy a brighter future in the EU market, Hoe said.

Vietnam’s shrimp industry only achieved export value of 3.6 billion USD last year, a year-on-year reduction of 7.8 percent.