(vasep.com.vn) Black tiger shrimp
According to Vietnam Customs, in May 2011, Vietnam exported 18,858 MT of frozen shrimp in all products and varieties, worth over US$187 million, up 10 percent in volume and 43% in value on those of May 2010. In the first five months of 2011, the total exports of shrimp reported 80,197 MT, worth nearly US$761 million, up 17,5 percent in volume and 36 percent in value. Of that volume, black tiger shrimp accounts for 56 percent in volume and 64 percent in value, whiteleg shrimp makes up 29 percent in volume and 24 percent in value. The other shrimp accounts for 15 percent.
Vietnam shrimp sector are facing difficulties due to widespread disease on shrimp in Mekong Delta (the main shrimp farming area of the country). Over 52,000 hectares of black tiger shrimp farming area were lost. In which, there were over 20,000 hectares of dead black tiger shrimp in Soc Trang province (the key industrial shrimp farming area of Vietnam). Many farmers are urgent to restock in fear of bad weather conditions in following months. Some farmers plan to stock whiteleg shrimp instead of black tiger shrimp because time for farming whiteleg shrimp is shorter than farming black tiger shrimp. Therefore, in June 2011, in the framework of a conference on shrimp export in Ho Chi Minh city, Mr. Truong Dinh Hoe, General Secretary of Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said, this year whiteleg shrimp production will develop strongly to compensate for shortage of raw shrimp for processing and exporting. Accordingly, the proportion of whiteleg shrimp will rise to 50 percent, equal to the proportion of black tiger shrimp in the structure of export items.
In the first five months of 2011, Vietnam shrimp was exported to 76 international markets. Shrimp exports to 10 key markets (Japan, the U.S, China, South Korea, Germany, Canada, Taiwan, the U.K, Australia, and Hong Kong) represented 78 percent in volume and 80.5 percent in value in the total shrimp export. In which, shrimp exports to Japan weakened slightly, shrimp exports to Australia has been decreasing since the early 2011. Shrimp exports to the 8 other markets rose.