HANOI: Weak demand in main markets, coupled with low export price and fierce competition, continue to hit Vietnam’s shrimp exports, said the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (Vasep).
While Vietnam shrimp exports may have picked up since April, reporting month-on-month increases, with October’s result touching $327 million — up 7.3% from September – this was still 21.7% lower than the same period in 2014.
Shipments to the US and Japan, in particular, felt a “tremendous decline” compared to the same period of 2014.
While still the country’s top shrimp importer, the US accounted for 21.8% of Vietnamese exports in October 2015, down from over 27% in the same period of 2014.
American shrimp sales for the same month touched more than $85m, up 9.6% month-on-month but still down 4.3% year on year.
In Japan, the second largest shrimp consumption market for Vietnam, sales to the market were $61.4m. This was up 5.3% over Sep 2015, but the cumulative figure in Jan-Oct 2015 was $486.7m, down 20.8% year on year. The decline in value of shrimp export to the market was attributable to the yen’s devaluation and economic downturn.
However, Vasep said it was hopeful of a turnaround in the coming months, predicting the Christmas and New Year holidays would push up shrimp demand.
