Shrimp exports increased sharply recently after a several month decline which started in early 2009, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors.

In June, the country exported 19,000 tonnes of shrimp, earning 148,000 million USD. Those figures increased 13.5 percent in volume and 3.9 percent in value compared with the same period of last year.

The increase in volume pushed the total export volume of shrimp up by 1.8 percent to 72,288 tonnes in the first half of this year compared with the same period of last year, the association said.

However, the value of the total exports in the first six months of 2009 fell slightly by 4.7 percent to 589.2 million in that same time period.

VASEP expected the situation for Vietnamese seafood exporters to be brighter in coming months due to a resumption of demand for seafood in the EU and the US , key export markets for Vietnamese shrimp.

Shrimp exports to the EU in June increased sharply by 65 percent in volume to 3,728 tonnes and 48.6 percent in value to 24.4 million USD.

After three months of decline in shrimp exports from Vietnam to the US due to the global economic crisis, exports to that market picked up in April and experienced a double-digit growth rate by the end of June.

In the first six months of the year, Vietnam exported 15,191 tonnes of shrimp to the US , earning 147.3 million USD, an increase of 18.3 percent in volume and 2.1 percent in value over the same period of last year.

China has become a key market for Vietnamese shrimp with volume exported there increasing at a high rate from early this year till now./.