(seafood.vasep.com.vn) According to Vietnam Customs, Vietnam shrimp exports to the UK in 2015 reached nearly US$130 million, up 13.4% from US$114.6 million of 2014. Last year, shrimp exports to the UK reported the positive growth while exports to all major markets fell.
Vietnam shrimp exports to the UK in Jan and Feb 2016 continued to post the year-on-year increase of 11% and 92.4%, respectively. Shrimp exports to the market in the first two months of this year reached US$17.3 million, up 38%.
While EU reduced importing shrimp from Vietnam, the UK raised importing Vietnam shrimp in 2015. In 2014, the UK was the third largest importer of Vietnam shrimp in the EU bloc. In the early 2015, the UK rose to the 2nd. Since August 2015, the UK has surpassed Germany to become the largest importer of Vietnam shrimp in the EU bloc. In Jan-Feb 2016, Vietnam shrimp exports to the UK made up 4.6% of total shrimp exports of Vietnam.
The rise in shrimp exports to the UK was attributable to higher demand for warmwarter shrimp amid lower supply of cold-water shrimp with rising price.
According to the International Trade Center (ITC), total shrimp imports into the UK in 2015 reached US$874.4 million, down 10.6% year on year. Canada was the largest supplier to the UK, Vietnam ranked the second with the proportion of 13.2% of total shrimp imports by the UK. Among top 10 largest suppliers to the UK, Vietnam and Indonesia raised exporting shrimp to the market with the growth of 16.2% and 4.9% while India, Thailand and China reduced exporting to the market. In the UK market, Vietnam shrimp exporters must compete with competitors from India on price.
Shrimp demand from EU in general and the UK in particular is expected to inch up thanks to lower inventories and stable price. This year, demand for warmwarter shrimp from the UK remains to be good. With the advantages in producing value added products, Vietnam has opportunities to raise its market share in the UK market.
|
Shrimp imports into the UK (Source: ITC, Value: US$ thousand)
|
|
Origin
|
2014
|
2015
|
Variations (%)
|
Average import price in 2015 (USD/kg)
|
|
The world
|
977,862
|
874,497
|
-10.6
|
-
|
|
Canada
|
145,690
|
170,805
|
17.2
|
13.3
|
|
Vietnam
|
99,460
|
115,525
|
16.2
|
11.5
|
|
India
|
142,835
|
109,111
|
-23.6
|
9.5
|
|
Bangladesh
|
93,701
|
85,178
|
-9.1
|
16.4
|
|
Thailand
|
121,732
|
60,065
|
-50.7
|
14
|
|
Indonesia
|
52,089
|
54,642
|
4.9
|
-
|
|
Denmark
|
69,495
|
52,707
|
-24.2
|
9.4
|
|
Honduras
|
35,164
|
41,502
|
18.0
|
12.2
|
|
Iceland
|
45,272
|
36,276
|
-19.9
|
13.6
|
|
China
|
25,272
|
21,042
|
-16.7
|
9
|
Compiled by Kim Thu