Vietnam shrimp exports rebounded in September

This decline continued until August 2018, with a dip in the export value of nearly 14% over the same period last year. Due to the decline in the recent months, total shrimp exports of the country in the first eight months of this year reached US$2.3 billion, down 2.3% over the same period last year.

Shrimp supply from the main producers in the world remained high so the world price of shrimp did not increase, even low prices from some countries impacted importing markets. As a result, Vietnamese shrimp was also influenced by major consuming markets such as the U.S, the EU, Japan and China. It was predicted that in September new contracts would increase, especially when importers prepare for the year-end market.

Whiteleg shrimp remained to take the main share of Vietnam’s shrimp export products, accounting for 68%; followed by black tiger shrimp with 23% and marine shrimp with 9%. Compared with the first eight months of 2017, the proportion of whiteleg shrimp increased while the proportion of black tiger shrimp decreased.

In the first eight months of 2018, the value of whiteleg shrimp exports increased by 4%, while that of black tiger shrimp was down 8% and that of marine shrimp fell by 25% compared to the same period last year.

For whiteleg shrimp, the export value of processed whiteleg shrimp (HS code 16) increased by 12% while live/fresh/frozen whiteleg shrimp (HS code 03) decreased by 3%. For black tiger shrimp, the export value of processed black tiger shrimp (HS code 16) decreased by 20% and live/fresh/frozen black tiger shrimp (HS code 03) dropped by 6%.

The U.S

The U.S held as the third largest shrimp importing market of Vietnam, accounting for 17.2% of Vietnam’s total shrimp exports to markets. After the continuous reduction in shrimp exports to the U.S from April to July this year, exports to this market has recovered with the 14.5% growth to touch US$81.6 million in August this year. In the first eight months of this year, shrimp exports to the U.S reached US$393.4 million, down 5.4% over the same period in 2017.

Recently, the U.S Department of Commerce (DOC) has announced the final results of anti-dumping duties on Vietnamese shrimp during the 12th administrative review period - POR12 (from 1^st February 2016- 1^st January 2017). Specifically, the tax rate in this phase for shrimp imported from Vietnam is 4.58%, 5 times lower than expected. Thus, the final tax rate of 4.58% was much lower than the 25.39% in the preliminary result informed by the DOC on 8^th March. This result is also better than the final POR11 tariff.

Vietnamese businesses are stepping up their purchasing of raw materials and signing contracts to export shrimp to the U.S. From the optimistic signal, Vietnam’s shrimp exports to this market expected to hit more than US$615 million in 2018.

The U.S is one of the major importing markets of Vietnamese shrimp with a turnover of over US$600 million a year. Therefore, the imposition of anti-dumping tax is now one of favorable conditions for Vietnamese shrimp in this market.

The EU

In August 2018, shrimp exports to the EU market decreased by 13.3% to hit US$89.3 million. The figure in the first eight months of this year was US$569.2 million, up 17.7% over the same period in 2017. Demand for Vietnamese shrimp in the EU remained good while some big competitors of Vietnam in the EU faced difficulties, so exports of Vietnamese shrimp to the EU maintained a positive growth rate in the first eight months of this year. Thailand lost its preferential tariff in the EU market, so Vietnamese shrimp had the advantage over Thai shrimp in terms of the average price of about 10%. India faced the strict EU product quality control rules. Vietnamese shrimp exports to EU expected to maintain a positive growth momentum throughout the year.