Vietnam shrimp exports: hoping for the next months

Since April 2015, Vietnam shrimp exports have reported the month-on-month increase. October result touched US$327 million, up 7.3% from September 2015. However, this was 21.7% lower than the same period of 2014. As Christmas and New Year holidays push up shrimp demand, Vietnam’s shrimp exports in the last two months of the year will be better.

Shrimp exports to the U.S, Japan and EU reported the tremendous decline compared to the same period of 2014. On the contrary, shrimp exports to the U.K, Hong Kong and Malaysia upped 11.1%, 3% and 17.8%, respectively.

Most of shrimp exported was frozen raw.  Whiteleg shrimp was the key export item, representing 58.6% of the total shrimp exports with sales reaching US$1.4 billion, down 26.4% year on year. Meanwhile, black tiger shrimp exports made up 33% of the total, hitting US$813.3 million, down 31.3%. The other was marine shrimp, which was mostly exported under processed forms.

It is noted that the proportion of whiteleg shrimp stayed flat from last year while that of black tiger shrimp downed 2.2% year on year and that for marine shrimp upped 2.3% year on year.  

The U.S.

The U.S. was still Vietnam’s top shrimp importing market. Shrimp exported to the U.S. through October accounted for 21.8%, from over 27% in the same period of 2014. Exports to Japan and the EU on the other hand increased by 1.5% and 1.7%, respectively.

Shrimp sales to the U.S. in October 2015 touched more than US$85 million, up 9.6% month-on-month but down 4.3% year on year. Shrimp sales in October reported higher than any other previous months in the year. Total shrimp exports to the U.S. through Oct 2015 valued US$536.5 million, down 41% year on year.

In Jan-Sep 2015, the U.S. imported 416,311 MT of shrimp all over the globe, worth by US$3.9 billion, up 2% in volume but down 18% in value. Average shrimp price dropped by 20% to US$9.42/kg from US$11.79 last year.

With lower rates in POR9 and conclusion of TPP, it is forecast that Vietnam shrimp exports to the U.S. will be better in the end of 2015.

Japan

Japan was the second largest shrimp consumption market for Vietnam in Jan-Oct 2015. Shrimp sales to the market in Oct 2015 achieved US$61.4 million, up 5.3% over Sep 2015. The cumulative figure in Jan-Oct 2015 reached US$486.7 million, down 20.8% year on year. The decline in value of shrimp export to the market was attributable to yen’s devaluation and economic downturn.

The statistics of the International Trade Center (ITC) showed that total shrimp imports into Japan in Jan-Sep 2015 hit US$1.6 billion, down 15.7% year on year. Vietnam remained the biggest shrimp supplier to this market. Main items that Vietnam sent here were large black tiger shrimp and value added products.

The EU

Shrimp exports to the EU in Oct 2015 has reached the highest so far this year. Shrimp sales to the market in Oct 2015 reached more than US$63 million, up 12.9% from Sep 2015. Through Oct 2015, exports hit US$466.5 million, down 19.7% year on year.

Through Oct 2015, the U.K was the only market among top 3 markets in the bloc to report growth of 11.1% year on year. This was caused by a rise in importing demand for warmwater shrimp. Vietnam shrimp sales to Germany and the Netherlands meanwhile tumbled 18% and 30.2%, respectively.

Shrimp supply by main producers namely India, Thailand, Ecuador and China tends to edge down due to epidemic outbreak. Accordingly, shrimp price is likely to inch up. Besides, domestic currencies of large importers like EUR, USD and yen are more stable. These are good news for Vietnam shrimp exports in the last months of the year.