(vasep.com.vn) Till the end of the third quarter of 2012, Vietnam shrimp exports touched over US$1.62 billion. Vietnam’s shrimp sales abroad in 2012 are scheduled to obtain over US$2.2 billion, representing a drop of 8.3 percent less than the preceding year (US$2.4 billion).
In Q.III/2012, China and Australia strengthened to import shrimp from Vietnam. Outstanding problems exposing to shrimp production and export in Q.II/2012 continue to affect to shrimp sector in Q.III/2012. Japan’s Ethoxyquin testing blocked Vietnam shrimp export to the market in the third quarter this year. Shrimp exports to other two main markets (EU, the U.S., ) also saw decrease and stronger competition with shrimp originated from India and Indonesia.
Shrimp exports in the third quarter of 2012 reached US$610.2 million, showing a reduction of 3.9 percent less than the previous quarter and a drop of 15.2 percent less than the same period of 2011.
Shrimp shipment in Q.IV/2012 is expected to gain US$650 million, up 6.5 percent from that of Q.III (US$610 million) but down almost 8 percent from a year earlier as demand from some importers slows down.
Supply of raw shrimp will be sufficient and its price will increase
In the fourth quarter of 2012, the supply of raw shrimp (coming from domestic production and imports) will be sufficient for processing and exporting due to modest demand for year-end holidays from huge importing markets. The shrimp demand this year is lower than that of the previous years.
The price of raw shrimp will increase due to ending of the harvesting season in the fourth quarter and processors’ high demand of raw shrimp.
Shrimp shipment to main markets is expected to stand still
Shrimp export to Japan depends much on “Ethoxyquin problem”. If Vietnam shrimp exporters continue to cope with this problem, shrimp sales to Japan in Q.IV will find it hard to report a positive growth.
It is hoped that in Q.IV/2012, shrimp exports to the U.S. will hit US$127 million, an equal level to Q.III due to the U.S.’s high shrimp inventories and large volume of shrimp importing from India and Ecuador.
In the fourth quarter, demand for shrimp in EU market will hardly rebound. Although shrimp is European people’s favorite product in Christmas holiday, consuming demand for shrimp in the region, particularly countries in the southern Europe will be lower due to economic downturn.
In the third quarter, China reported the economic growth of 7.4 percent and the growth rate of 7.7 percent was seen in the first 9 months of 2012. According to economists, China’s economic growth in 2012 is expected to reach the rate of 7.5 percent. Thus shrimp exports to China will keep a positive growth in Q.IV.
In the last three months of this year, shrimp exports to Australia are expected to remain positive results owing to stable demand. Australia is considered as a potential market of Vietnam shrimp this year.