(seafood.vasep.com.vn) After unstable growth in the first 4 months of the year, Vietnamese shrimp exports to Japan grew steadily in three months of May, June and July, although the increase was not much. In July 2019, shrimp exports to this market reached nearly US$56 million, up 2.2%. Due to a sharp decline in January and April, in the first 7 months of this year, shrimp exports to Japan still decreased slightly by 2.8% to nearly US$329 million.
Japan still maintains the second largest shrimp importer of Vietnam in the first half of this year. Thanks to the advantages from the Trade Agreements between Vietnam and Japan, Vietnamese shrimp exports to Japan in the first 7 months of this year did not fall sharply like other major markets.
In the structure of shrimp products exported from Vietnam to Japan, whiteleg shrimp accounted for the highest rate of 58.1%, black tiger shrimp made up for 22.4% and marine shrimp accounted for 19.5%. Among white shrimp products exported to Japan, live /fresh/frozen whiteleg shrimp proportion are higher than processed whiteleg shrimp. In the first 7 months of this year, Vietnamese live/fresh/ frozen whiteleg shrimp exports to Japan fell by more than 10% while exports of processed whiteleg shrimp rose slightly by 2% over the same period in 2018.
Some Vietnamese shrimp products that are popular in Japan include Nobashi, sushi, Tempura breaded shrimp; Frozen FD whiteleg shrimp, frozen peeled whiteleg shrimp (head off, tail on)...
According to ITC, in the first half of this year, Japnanese shrimp imports reached more than US $ 1 billion, down 6.6% over the same period in 2018. Vietnam was still the largest shrimp supplier for Japan, accounting for 26% of the total value. Followed by Thailand, Indonesia and India, accounting for 19%, 17% and 10% respectively. In the first half of 2019, Japanese shrimp imports from the top 5 major suppliers all decreased compared to the same period in 2018.
Frozen raw shrimp (HS code 030617) was the highest proportion of total shrimp structure imported into Japan, accounting for over 60%. In terms of import tax applied for shrimp, Vietnam and other major suppliers for Japan (Indonesia, India, Thailand) are enjoyed to the tax rate of 0%. In terms of price, Vietnamese shrimp has the highest prices among other suppliers with over US$11/kg in the first half of this year. The price of Indonesian shrimp exported to Japan was US$11/kg, the price of Thai and India shrimp was US$9.5/kg and US$9/kg respectively.
The ASEAN-Japan Free Trade Agreement (AJCEP) came into force on December 1, 2008 and the Vietnam-Japan Bilateral Free Trade Agreement (VJEPA) came into force on October 1, 2009 has helped to create favorable conditions in terms of preferential tariff for Vietnamese seafood exports to Japan.
In addition to Vietnam - Japan and ASEAN - Japan FTAs, the CPTPP Agreement, which came into effect in January 2019, shall also help Vietnamese shrimp to boost their advantages in this market. According to Japanese commitments in CPTPP, most of Vietnamese seafood products including frozen shrimp (HS code 030617) and processed shrimp (HS 160521) are enjoyed to 0% tax rate right after the agreement took effect.
The development of Japanese ready-to-eat food business was good, so processed shrimp products with high usability will grow well in the Japanese market.