QI/2017: Vietnam’s whiteleg shrimp exports inched up 10.6%

A sharp rise in raw shrimp price and anti-dumping tax drove Vietnam’s shrimp exports to the U.S reduced significantly, while the demand in Japan was high due to the appreciation of the Japanese Yen made shrimp exporting companies shift to this market. Exports to other markets such as the EU and South Korea reported a positive recovery to offset declines in the U.S, China and Australia.

Vietnam’s shrimp exports decreased by 12.6% in January 2017, but increased by 18.7% in February and went down 0.2% in March over the same period in 2016. Therefore, exports in the first three months of this year valued at US$618.3 million, a slight decrease of 0.1% from a year before.

Products for exports

In QI/2017, exports of whiteleg shrimp remained the largest share of 63.3% in Vietnam’s shrimp exports; those of black tiger shrimp picked up 27.3% and those of marine shrimp were 9.4%.

The share of whiteleg shrimp exports increased from 57% in QI/2016 to 63.3% in QI/2017. However, the proportion of black tiger shrimp exports decreased from 35% to 27.3%; and that of marine shrimp increased slightly.

In the period, exports of live/fresh/frozen whiteleg shrimp (HS code 03) occupied the highest value of US$208.4 million in Vietnam’s total shrimp exports.

During this period, Vietnam's whiteleg shrimp exports hit US$391.7 million, increasing by 10.6%, while exports of black tiger shrimp touched US$168.7 million, declining by 21% from Q1/2016. Shipments of marine shrimp reached US$57.9 million, going up 12.3% year on year.

In Jan-Mar 2017, exports of other canned/processed shrimp (HS code 16) showed the highest increase of 91.3%, worth by US$1.1 million. Meanwhile, those of processed black tiger shrimp (HS code 16) was down 34.8% with the value of nearly US$22 million.

Importing markets

In QI/2017, Vietnam exported shrimp to 68 markets, up from 64 markets in the same period in 2016.

Top 10 main importing markets including Japan, the EU, the U.S, China, South Korea, Canada, Australia, ASEAN, Taiwan and Switzerland accounted for 95.4% in Vietnam’s total shrimp exports.

In the period, Japan outstripped the U.S to stay as the largest importer, while the U.S dropped to the third rank. Canada ranked the 6^th, Australia gave way to Canada to rank the 7^th.

Top 5 main buyers consisted of Japan (21.9%), the EU (19.2%), the U.S (18.1%), China (15.1%), and South Korea (10%). In the top, exports to Japan, the EU and South Korea recorded the positive growth, in which, shipments to South Korea showed the highest rise of 30.8%. Meanwhile, exports to the U.S and China witnessed the decrease, in which, sales to the U.S dropped by 26.3%.

In the first quarter of this year, Vietnam’s shrimp exports to Japan posted the good growth of 29.6% with the 1^st rank. The EU remained as the 2^nd largest importer with a 6.4 percent rise in the export value. After a climb in 2016, exports to China in Jan-Mar 2017 were on the downward trend. Shipments to South Korea reported the highest growth thanks to the FTA preferences between South Korea and Vietnam.

Vietnam’s shrimp exports to the U.S increased in the first three quarters of 2016, but went down in QIV/2016. In the first quarter of 2017, shipments to this market continued the downward trend. Exports in the first three months of 2017 dropped by 22-28% compared to the same period in 2016. In Jan-Mar 2017, Vietnam’s shrimp exports to the U.S reached nearly US$112 million, down 26.3% year on year. Due to the negative growth, the U.S fell to the 3^rd rank out of top importers of Vietnam shrimp in QI/2017.

Vietnam’s shrimp exports to Japan began to recover from August 2016 and continued to grow until March this year. If in 2016, shrimp exports to Japan went up 2.7%, in Jan-Mar 2017, exports were up 29.6% with the value of US$135.4 million.

Vietnam’s shrimp exports to Japan grew at double digits in the first three months of this year. As a result, Japan rose from the 3^rd rank to the 1^st rank in top Vietnam's largest shrimp importers.

It is projected that the output of raw shrimp in 2017 will slightly increase to 660,000 MT over the farming area of 700 hectares. Vietnam’s shrimp exports in 2017 forecasted to hit US$3.4 billion, up 9% year on year. Of that, shipments of whiteleg shrimp expected to hit about US$2 billion, up 8%, and those of black tiger shrimp were US$900 million, up 2%.

Written by Kim Thu

Compiled by Dieu Thuy