Shrimp export in the first half of this year amounted to 1.1 billionUSD, a rise of 8.6 percent over the same period last year, according tothe Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).
The major import markets including Japan, the US, China and Canada sawa rapid increase in price, which contributed a lot to the overall risein export value.
Domestic shrimp production has alsorecovered from the damage caused by diseases in 2012, which arepresently being eradicated, according to the association.
While Early Mortality Syndrome ( EMS ) in shrimp still badly affectsmany other Asian countries such as Thailand, which has forecast that thecountry’s shrimp output will fall by 50 percent over last year, thisprovides opportunities for Vietnamese shrimp producers to make abreak-through, added the association.
Exports to Japan, thebiggest importer of Vietnamese shrimp, have recovered and are expectedto reach 293.9 million USD in the first six months of this year, a riseof 6.6 percent.
Shrimp exports to the US also rose by 22.4percent over the same period last year and are estimated at 253.3million USD.
However, difficulties remain for shrimp exportsto some markets such as the Republic of Korea with the application ofthe Ethoxyquin test or to the US that applies an anti-subsidy tax.
Industry insiders have urged Vietnamese businesses to try andexpand their current markets in North America, the Middle East and Asia.
China, with its huge population holds a vast potentialmarket for Vietnamese shrimp exports. In the first quarter of this year,China passed the EU to become the third largest importers of Vietnameseshrimp, with a monthly growth rate of 7.3-9.7 percent.
Experts also predict that China will continue to be the world’s biggestimporter of seafood for the next 10 years, with a potential import valueof up to 20 billion USD.
Malaysia also has a lot of untappedpotential as the country’s supplies of shrimp fell from 90,000 tonnes to60,000 tonnes in the year’s first quarter due to diseases, forcing thecountry to import shrimp to meet consumer demands.
Truong DinhHoe, chairman of Vasep, has forecast that shrimp exports will hit 2.4billion USD for the full year, 6.5 percent higher than last year.
He urged exporters to work closely with farmers to ensure suppliesof high quality shrimp, which will help to overcome technical barriersset by overseas import markets.
Vietnam mainly exports whiteshrimp and black tiger shrimp, which made up 41.3 and 50.8 percent oftotal export turnover respectively.-VNA