Vietnam shrimp sales to US rose

After the reduction in June, Vietnam’s shrimp sales to the U.S. in July rose by 29.4% to US$65.9 million. The figure in Jan-Jul this year reached US$364.8 million, up 16.3% year on year.

The U.S. remained the growth in importing shrimp from Vietnam thanks to its higher demand for shrimp while other suppliers to the U.S. like India, Indonesia, Ecuador, Thailand saw the decline in shrimp production, leading to the rise in export price. Demand for black tiger shrimp from the U.S. rose while the harvest production of this species in India and Indonesia fell. Currently, the restaurants and retailers in the U.S are launching trade promotion program in order to boost domestic consumers’ shrimp consumption.

Raising black tiger imports from Vietnam

In the early 2015, the U.S. tend to raise importing black tiger shrimp from Vietnam. In Jan-May 2015, the proportion of black tiger exported from Vietnam to the U.S. was 24% and 69% for white leg shrimp sales. In Jan-May 2016, the share of black tiger was 27% and 70% for white leg shrimp.

Through June 2016, shrimp imports into the U.S. reached 264,772 MT, worth by US$2.4 billion, down 1% in volume and 8% in value from the same period of last year. Indonesia took the lead with the share of 22.5%; followed by India and Thailand with 21.2% and 13.2%, respectively. Vietnam ranked the fourth with 12.2%.

Out of top 5 largest shrimp suppliers to the U.S.; only Vietnam raised volume of 9% and value of 1% of shrimp exported to the U.S. Shrimp exports from Ecuador to the U.S. reported the sharpest decline of 18% in volume and 17% in value. The U.S. tend to reduce importing from Ecuador and raised importing from Asian suppliers like Vietnam, India, Thailand, China because these suppliers can meet the U.S.’s demand of shrimp skewers with reasonable price.

Forecast

The U.S.’s economy showed many positive signs like lower unemployment rate, low gas price, boosting consumers’ spending. Demand for peeled shrimp of restaurant chains in the U.S. are surging. It is expected that shrimp demand for year-end festivals in the U.S. will continue to rise.

By Kim Thu