HANOI: Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters & Producers (VASEP) expects Vietnamese shrimp exports to United States (US) improve if the latter maintains the reduced taxes set in its ninth administrative review of anti-dumping duty.
According to the preliminary results of this review (covering the period from 1 February 2013 to January 2014), announced in March by the US Department of Commerce (DOC), the average tariff implemented by the US government on Vietnamese shrimp declined from 6.37 per cent to 0.93 per cent.
Statistics from Customs from Vietnam indicate that in the first four months of 2015, the Asian country earned USD 164 million from shrimp exports and the markets show positive signs.
VASEP also informed that thanks to a strong dollar, the US increased shrimp imports this year and highlighted that Vietnam became the fastest growing supplier of breaded shrimp to this market.
In the first quarter of the year, over 135,000 tonnes of shrimp was imported into the US, reaching the value of USD 1.4 billion. Shipments from Vietnam fell by 23.3 per cent year on year, to 12,341 tonnes (a volume equivalent to 9 per cent of total imports).
Frozen breaded shrimp imports increased by 11 per cent and reached 11,737 tonnes, representing USD 94.7 million. Vietnamese exports of this product increased by 50 per cent in volume in the first three months this year, reaching 1,491 tonnes and 42 per cent in value, to USD 11.9 million.
On the other hand, imports from China into the US in the first quarter this year declined by 10 per cent to USD 45.6 million and those from Thailand remained stable with USD 22.1 million in comparison to the same period last year.
In the analysed period, there was an increase of frozen shelled shrimp imports into the US to 54,984 tonnes, reporting the value of USD 551.4 million (17 per cent in volume and 5 per cent in value).
Furthermore, frozen warm water shrimp imports in the same period reached 47,215 tonnes for a value of USD 501 million, representing a decline of 9 per cent in volume and 26 per cent in value compared to the first quarter last year.