Shrimp processing at Cafatex Corporation in the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang. (Photo: VNA)Shrimp exports fell for two months in a row during the thirdquarter of 2021 since many factories in the Mekong Delta, which accounted for80 percent of the nation’s shrimp output, were forced to shut down temporarilyand adopt “three-on-site” production scheme to prevent the spread of COVID-19,said VASEP General-Secretary Truong Dinh Hoe.
Shipments started to rebound in the second half of October afterfactory operation resumed, he noted.
Shrimp exports to the US maintained a modest growth despiteCOVID-19 impacts, he said, adding that the US’s demand for Vietnamese shrimp products remained quite stable since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the first 11 months of last year, Vietnam exported 984million USD worth of shrimp to the US, a year-on-year surge of 22 percent. Thefigure represented 28 percent of the country's total shrimp earnings, making the US Vietnam’s largest shrimp buyer last year.
The figure is expected to grow further throughout the firstquarter of this year, Hoe stated.
Vietnam was also the largest supplier of shrimp in Japan, theRepublic of Korea and Australia. It ranked No.2 in the EU andNo.4 in China.
Data from the VASEP show that Vietnam is cultivating shrimp on a total area of over 740,000 hectares, with annual output averaging over900,000 tonnes. Vietnam is the world’s largest producer of giant tiger prawn (also called black tiger shrimp),with output exceeding 250,000 tonnes a year.
Productivity has improved constantly from 2016 – 2021, as seen in an annual increase of 10 percent in output though farming area only expanded1.5 percent annually.
The VASEP forecast shrimp output will pick up about 9 percentannually between 2022 and 2025, and by 2025, shrimp exports could reach 5.6 billion USD./.
VNA
