Vietnam shrimp sales to the Netherlands to continue the rise

In the last 10 years (2008-2017), shrimp imports into the Netherlands increased by 61% from US$430 million to US$695 million. Shrimp imports into the Netherlands registered the good growth in 10 years, reaching a peak in 2014 with US$777 million thanks to a rise in shrimp prices and the overall growth trend of the world shrimp market. From 2015 to 2017, shrimp imports into the Netherlands continued to grow.

In 2017, shrimp imports into the Netherlands reached US$695 million, up 10% from 2016. The four largest shrimp suppliers to the Netherlands included Vietnam, India, Bangladesh and Morocco. Vietnam was the largest supplier of shrimp to the Netherlands, accounting for 22% of the total import value into this market in 2017. India ranked the second with the share of 15.1%. Bangladesh and Morocco made up15% and 12.3% respectively. From the 4^th rank in 2015, Vietnam rose to the second rank in top leading shrimp exporters to the Netherlands in 2016 and became the largest shrimp supplier to this market in 2017.

According to the International Trade Center (ITC) data, in 2017, out of top 5 largest shrimp suppliers to the Netherlands, imports from Vietnam posted the highest growth of 57%, followed by Bangladesh with the rise of 35%, imports from Morocco and Belgium were all up 11%, but those from India were down 6% compared to 2016.

On the Dutch market, the share of Vietnamese shrimp is increasing, from 11.5% in 2015 to 22.5% in 2017; while that of Indian shrimp (the main competitor of Vietnam in this market) fell from 18% in 2015 to 15% in 2017. India has reduced its exports to the Netherlands in recent years due to the frequency of inspections of 50% of shipments at the EU border.

The Netherlands was the largest importer of Vietnamese shrimp in the EU, accounting for 6.6% of Vietnam's shrimp export value to markets in the first five months of this year. From the second rank in top shrimp importers in EU, from September 2017, the country became the leading shrimp buyer of Vietnam and maintained its first rank until now.

According to the data of Vietnam Customs, in 2017, Vietnam’s shrimp exports to the Netherlands touched US$224.2 million, up nearly 72% compared with 2016. This was the highest growth in exports to main importing markets of Vietnamese shrimp. In 2018, exports to this market continued the high growth momentum. Vietnam’s shrimp exports to the Netherlands in the first five months of this year valued at US$87.5 million, up 83.7% over the same period last year. Shrimp exports to this market from January to May this year witnessed the 2-3-digit growth, especially in April, exports were up 104% over the same period in 2017.

In Jan-May this year, exports of whiteleg shrimp to the Netherlands accounted for the highest share of 86%, followed by black tiger shrimp with 10% and other shrimp with 4%.

The demand for white tiger shrimp (HS 16) from Vietnam in the Netherlands is increasing. In the first five months of 2018, the export value of processed whiteleg shrimp products increased by 161% among shrimp products exported to the Netherlands. Exports of processed black tiger shrimp to the market decreased by 28% over the same period last year.

With the advantage of tax incentives, the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) to come into effect, the demand for shrimp imports into the EU at the end of the year projected to go up while India tends to reduce its exports to the EU, Vietnam’s shrimp exports forecasted to continue the rise from now until the end of the year.