(vasep.com.vn) In the second quarter of 2012, Vietnam shrimp exports reached US$579.22 million, up 8.24 percent from that of the same period of 2011. Through June 2012, shrimp exports gained US$1.015 billion, up 4.5 percent over that of the same period last year. Along with persistent epidemic on shrimp starting since the first quarter of this year, in the second quarter, main bottlenecks of shrimp sector are barriers from consuming markets, reduction in global shrimp price led to loss in shrimp’s competitiveness, increase in raw material price and input costs. In June, shrimp exports tended to drop by 4 percent and may be continued unless barriers from importers are removed, especially Japanese market which inspected Ethoxyquin residue on shrimp consignments originated from Vietnam. Shrimp production and export situation in the second quarter of 2012 include 10 remarkable points as follows:
1. Disease on shrimp is on an uptrend: According to statistics of Directorate of Fisheries (D-Fish), in Jan-Jun 2012, damaged shrimp farming area was 39,827 hectares, accounting for 6.49 percent of total shrimp farming area. Farming area of diseased shrimp in some key farming areas (Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, Ca Mau provinces) increased more from that of last year in which lost area in Tra Vinh was up to 100 percent, lost black tiger shrimp farming area in Ben Tre up 104 percent, damaged whiteleg shrimp farming area in Bac Lieu up 1,630 percent. In Ca Mau, intensive black tiger shrimp farming area that was lost was up 362 percent, extensive black tiger shrimp farming area that was caught by disease was up 1,653 percent.
2. Input cost for raw shrimp producing rose by 15 - 25 percent, raw shrimp price fell by 40-50 percent: As calculated, input cost for raw whiteleg shrimp producing count 50 pieces per kilogram in 2012 was VND75,000 while it was VND60,000 in 2011. Cost for raw black tiger shrimp producing count 40 pieces per kilogram was VND80,000 per kilogram while VND65,000 – 70,000 per kilogram was the price of the same period of 2011. Meanwhile, in Jan 2012, raw black tiger shrimp price count 30/40 pc/kg in Ca Mau province was quoted at VND155,000 – 195,000 per kilogram and until June 2012, it fell 50 percent to VND110,000 – 120,000 per kilogram.
In Jan-Jun 2012,Vietnam boosted to import raw shrimp. According to the Thai Eastern Shrimp Association, the amount of raw or semi-processed frozen shrimp exported to Vietnam increased three-fold over that of the same period of 2011 (2,860 MT).
3. Black tiger shrimp exports kept falling in the second quarter of 2012: In April 2012, Vietnam shrimp exports in all varieties fell by 6.5 percent over April/2011 in which black tiger shrimp exports edged down 21.7 percent but whiteleg shrimp exports edged up 22.3 percent. This trend continued in the following month with 7.2 percent reduction in the black tiger shrimp export value and 40.8 percent increase in whiteleg shrimp exports. In June, black tiger shrimp exports still sank 13.8 percent but whiteleg shrimp exports rose 8 percent.
In Jan-June 2012, Vietnam shrimp shipment was up 4.5 percent over 2011 thanks to sharp increase in whiteleg shrimp exports (+34.5 percent) which contributed in to compensating for the reduction in black tiger shrimp exports (-8.4 percent).
4. Whiteleg shrimp exports are unsustainable: In Jan-Jun 2012, whiteleg shrimp exports remained positive monthly growth but the growth rate reduced gradually from the peak 96.1 percent in Feb to 8 percent in Jun which proved that competitiveness of whiteleg shrimp is still weak and whiteleg shrimp production and exports in Vietnam are unstable due to some causes related to prices and quality of feed and seed.
5. Shrimp price slashed drastically in the Japanese and the U.S. market: In June 2012, in the Japanese market, price of black tiger shrimp originated from India was down 20 percent against that of previous year. Shrimp count 16/20 pc/lb was imported into Japan from India with the price of US$9 – 9.5 per kilogram. In the U.S. market, the price of HLSO black tiger shrimp was down 12.8 percent from Jan 2012 (US$7.40/lb) to the early Jul 2012 (US$6.65/lb).
Low consumption but abundant inventories led to low importing demand in these two large markets. Plentiful supply but decreasing demand robustly slashed shrimp price in the Japanese and U.S. markets through June 2012.
6. The competitiveness in Vietnam shrimp price is weaker than that of Indonesia and India: In Jan – Jun 2012,in the U.S. market, HLSO black tiger shrimp count 16/20 from Vietnam hovered in the range of US$6.50 – 6.85/lb while shrimp price with the same size from Indonesia tended to fall, fluctuated from US$5 – 6.40/lb. In theJapanese market, the price of HLSO black tiger shrimp from Vietnam count 16/20 mixed at about US$23 – 27/block 1.8 kilogram, higher than that of India ( US$21 – 22.5/block 1.8 kilogram).
Increasing disease and input costs, lack of capital caused by banks’ credit tightening, increasing testing cost of consignments drag down Vietnam shrimp exporters’ competitiveness. Because Vietnam shrimp has to face fierce competitiveness in price against that of other shrimp producers such as Indonesia, Thailand and India, profit margins of Vietnam shrimp exporters was narrowed remarkably in the first half of 2012.
7. Japan imposed technical barriers on Vietnam shrimp: Since mid-May 2012, Japan officially inspected Ethoxyquin residue (-an anti-oxidant and preservative substance) on 30 percent of shrimp consignments originated from Vietnam with maximum residue limits (MRLs) of 0.01 ppm (10 ppb). Ethoxyquin is a substance which is allowed to use in preserving fishmeal (a main ingredient in animal feed) in most of countries in the world with MRL of 75 – 150ppm. According to a survey of an enterprise, 50 percent of shrimp feed in the market include Ethoxyquin content of over 10ppb level.
Japan’s Ethoxyquin test will negatively affect to Vietnam shrimp exports and increase enterprises’ producing costs, even Japanese shrimp importers have to spend a lot of time and money for the Ethoxyquin testing in their country. Vietnam shrimp is losing its competitiveness in Japan market. Japan is considered a unique and key market which can remain positive growth in shrimp imports through June 2012.
8. Shrimp exports to China tend to slump: In the second quarter of 2012, shrimp exports to China kept falling: reduction of 21.6 percent in Apr, 0.9 percent in May and 12 percent in Jun. In Jan-Jun 2012, shrimp delivery to China gained over US$109.9 million, only up 1.1 percent over that of the same period of last year and reporting the lowest growth in the past three years.
9. Shrimp exports to the U.S. edged down sharply: In Apr 2012, shrimp exports to the U.S. dropped 8 percent from Apr 2011 and fell sharply in two following consecutive months which led to 4.8 percent reduction in shrimp shipment to the market in the second quarter of this year. In May, shrimp shipment to the market fell 18.3 percent and 15.8 percent in Jun.
In the second quarter, Vietnam shrimp exports to the U.S. held back as some whiteleg shrimp suppliers were in harvest time with high production. At this time, Vietnam shrimp has to compete strongly with whiteleg shrimp originated Ecuador both in its price and its supply. Ecuador stepped up exporting shrimp to the U.S. due to instability in EU market. Data on shrimp imports into the U.S. in Apr 2012 showed that shrimp imports from Ecuador into the U.S. were up 27.3 percent and 28.6 percent in May 2012.
10. European economic crisis hurt shrimp sales of Vietnam and other countries: In Jan-Jun 2012, Vietnam shrimp exports to EU tumbled 25.1 percent over that of Jan-Jun 2011 to US$108 million. Similarly, shrimp exports from Thailand to the market in the first 5 months of this year fell 16 percent to US$79 million. EU is the third largest importer of Vietnam and Thailand shrimp after the U.S. and Japan.
LH (According to Report on Vietnam Seafood Export in Q.II/2012 - VASEP )