Shrimp exports, having gained a high value in the first half of this year, are expected to continue increasing in the second half of the year and raise the sector’s export value to 3.8 billion USD, the Saigon Times Daily reported.

The Daily quoted Truong Dinh Hoe, General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), as saying that shrimp exports accounted for half of the country’s total seafood export value in the first six months.

In the period, the seafood industry posted 3.45 billion USD in export value, rising 24.2 percent over the same period last year, with 1.8 billion USD generated by shrimp exports, Hoe said, citing a report by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Given the sector’s good business performance in the first half and positive signs in Vietnam’s major export markets such as the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the European Union, the association expects that shrimp export turnover in the second half may be unchanged from the first half, taking the year’s total turnover to 3.8 billion USD.

Hoe said one reason for the increase of shrimp export is a sharp fall of supply on global markets, caused by the early mortality syndrome (EMS) in shrimp farms in major farming countries such as China, Thailand and India.

Usually, importing markets boost their purchases in the last months of the year, Hoe said, adding that how much they will import depends on the quality of products of local suppliers.

Steady output has not only brought good business results for shrimp exporters this year but also increased domestic prices of the product although the shrimp harvest is reaching its peak in the Mekong Delta.

By the end of June, shrimp output rose 38.7 percent over last year in Tra Vinh province, 25.5 percent in Kien Giang province, 3.9 percent in Ca Mau province, and 7.5 percent in Bac Lieu province.-VNA