Stability in growth of shrimp exports to Taiwan

In the first 9 months of 2019, Vietnamese shrimp exports to Taiwan only decreased in January and April,  exports in the other months grew positively compared to the same period in 2018. In September 2019, shrimp exports to Taiwan reached over US$5 million, up 15% compared to September 2018. Accumulated in the first 9 months of 2019, shrimp export value to this market reached US $ 41.9 million, up 13.9% over the same period in 2018.

In the first 9 months of 2019, Vietnamese shrimp exports to Taiwan grew not high but stable. By the end of September 2019, shrimp exports to Taiwan achieved the best growth among the top 10 shrimp importers of Vietnam.

Taiwan favored black tiger shrimp from Vietnam, with the major items of black tiger shrimp such as frozen whole black tiger shrimp, fresh whole black tiger shrimp butterfly, frozen black tiger shrimp meat, frozen PUD black tiger shrimp. Fresh frozen whole black tiger shrimp exported to Taiwan cost from US$6-8/kg.

In addition, Taiwan also imported frozen whiteleg shrimp meat, PTO nobashi whiteleg shrimp, frozen boiled PD white shrimp, frozen steamed sushi whiteleg shrimp ... from Vietnam.

According to ITC statistics, Taiwan's shrimp imports in the first 6 months of 2019 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% total shrimp import value of Taiwan. Vietnam ranked second, accounting for 16.6%; followed by Thailand and China accounting for 15.5 % and 13% respectively.

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 slid substantially. The average price of shrimp imports from Thailand was the highest, followed by Vietnamese shrimp prices, China and Honduras had the most competitive prices. In the first 6 months of 2019, the average import price from Vietnam ranged from US$6.7 to US$8.2/kg while that of from Thailand, Honduras and China ranged from 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 Vietnamese shrimp exports to Taiwan has not increased during this time, partly because of the high import tax (about 20%) of this market. Simultaneously, this market has applied strict regulations on food safety and hygiene and regular quarantine adjusment.

However, Taiwan is a potential market for Vietnamese shrimp with diverse tastes, a vast Vietnamese community. Taiwan's demand for shrimp imports has also been on an upward trend in recent years.

This market has seafood consumption habits that are both Chinese and Japanese style. These two markets are traditional importers for Vietnamese enterprises.

In early October 2019, Taiwan Food and Drug Administration announced a list of 638 Vietnamese factories/companies that are allowed to export to this market. This information helped the export of Vietnamese enterprises to this market more favorable.

Some factors that bussiness should be concerned when exports to Taiwan. Firstly, Taiwanese rarely reserve food, so the packaging should be compact, beautifully designed and fully instructions. On top of that, with increasing income, Taiwanese consumers are aiming to test new products, so advertising and providing information are the things to do when penetrading into this market. Taiwanese consumers do not care much about the price of a product once it is provided with enough information.