(seafood.vasep.com.vn) According to data from Vietnam Customs, as of October 15, 2023, Vietnam's shrimp exports to Japan reached 388 million USD, down 28% over the same period last year.
The Japanese market imported 372 million USD of shrimp from Vietnam in the first 9 months of this year, down 28% over the same period. Vietnam's shrimp exports to Japan in September 2023 decreased by 10% - the smallest decrease since the beginning of this year.
In QIII/2023, shrimp exports to Japan reached 135 million USD, down 26%. The decrease in QIII is also the lowest decrease compared to the previous two quarters.
Weak demand from the Japanese market combined with a sharp decline in the Yen/USD currency exchange rate is one of the factors that have a negative impact on Vietnamese shrimp exports to Japan.
Among the three main shrimp product groups exported to Japan, whiteleg shrimp accounted for 64.1%, black tiger shrimp accounted for 18.5%, and the remaining 17.4% was other shrimp. Unlike other markets, Japan's export proportion of other types of shrimp is equivalent to black tiger shrimp. White leg shrimp’s export value to Japan in QIII reached 238 million USD, down 26%, black tiger shrimp’s export value decreased 40% to 69 million USD. Other shrimp exported to Japan reached 65 million USD, down 20%. Whiteleg shrimp’s export value decreased less than that of black tiger shrimp. Notably, dried shrimp exports to Japan increased by 3% in the first 9 months of this year.
In QIII/2023, the average export price of Vietnam's frozen black tiger shrimp to Japan ranged from 18.8-14.1 USD/kg. The average price of black tiger shrimp exported to Japan tended to decrease since the beginning of the year while the volume of black tiger shrimp exports to Japan tended to increase monthly (the next month is higher than the previous month) since June. In QIII, black tiger shrimp exports recorded an increase compared to the same period last year.
The Japanese market often has a higher average shrimp selling price than other Vietnam’s shrimp export markets. This market also has limited competition and high barriers to entry due to consumers' preference for high value-added products - which is the strength of Vietnam's shrimp industry.
In the Japanese market, Vietnamese shrimp exporters have a competitive advantage in high value-added products compared to countries that mainly export raw shrimp products such as India and Ecuador. It is expected that Vietnam’s shrimp exports to this market in the last quarter of the year will continue to narrow the decrease and may recover in December.