(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Taiwan was Vietnam's 8th largest shrimp importer, accounting for 1.8% of Vietnam's total shrimp export value to markets. Vietnamese shrimp exports to Taiwan were quite stable in the first 7 months of 2019.
In the first 7 months of 2019, Vietnamese shrimp exports to Taiwan only decreased in January and April, exports in the others months grew positively compared to the same period in 2018. In July 2019, shrimp exports to Taiwan reached over US$5 million, up 8.3% compared to July 2018. In the first 7 months of this year, shrimp export value to this market reached US$ 31.8 million, up 14.2% over the same period in 2018.
Taiwan supported Vietnamese black tiger shrimp products, with the major items of whole fresh/frozen black tiger shrimp such as whole fresh/frozen butterfly black tiger shrimp, frozen PUD black tiger shrimp, frozen whiteleg shrimp, PTO nobashi whiteleg shrimp, frozen PD whiteleg shrimp, frozen shushi whiteleg shrimp,…
According to ITC statistics, Taiwan's shrimp imports in the first 6 months of this year reached over US$121 million, up 0.8% over the same period in 2018. Honduras was the largest shrimp supplier for Taiwan, accounting for 17.4% of Taiwan's total shrimp import value, followed by Vietnam, accounting for 16.6%; Thailand ranked third at 15.5%, China ranked fourth made up 13% of Taiwan's shrimp market share.
In the first 6 months of 2019, among the top 4 main suppliers, shrimp imports into Taiwan from Vietnam and Honduras grew well while imports from Thailand went down substantially. The average import price of shrimp into Taiwan from Thailand was the highest, followed by Vietnamese shrimp prices. China and Honduras have the most competitive prices. In the first 6 months of 2019, the average import price from Vietnam, Thailand, Honduras and China to Taiwan ranged from US$6.7 to US$8.2 /kg, US$6.1 to US$8.5 /kg, US$5 - US$6.4 /kg and US$3.3 - US$5.1/kg respectively.
The proportion of Vietnamses shrimp exports to Taiwan has not increased during this time, partly because of the high import tax (about 20%) of this market. At the same time, Taiwan has applied strict regulations on food safety and hygiene, quarantine and adjusted these regulations regularly.
However, Taiwan is a potential market with diverse tastes, the Vietnamese community in Taiwan is quite large. Hence, businesses should actively explore this market to boost exports to this country, reducing the dependence on the main markets.