Shrimp exports to the US were subjected to DOC’s countervailing lawsuit, exports to EU were under strain owing to the persistent economic distress, and South Korea imposed Ethoxyquin inspection with MRL of 0.01ppm. Shrimp shipment to Japan stopped its deep dive but is showing no sign to soar due to Ethoxyquin barriers, reports VASEP.
In times of current difficulties, many Viet Nam shrimp exporters are making efforts to seek and boost exporting to other markets including Asian markets.
China: The third largest importer of Viet Nam shrimp
China is an attractive market for many shrimp suppliers all over the world due to its high consumption demand as well as a tremendous decline in domestic shrimp output caused by disease outbreaks. Therefore, thanks to its favorable geography for cross-border trade, Viet Nam is one of the suppliers, which reported a high growth in shrimp exports to China since the early months of 2013.
In QI/2013, China outstripped EU to hold the third place as Viet Nam’s shrimp importer behind Japan and the US. At the time, Viet Nam shrimp exports to China saw a sharp growth of 7.3 – 97 per cent from that recorded in QI/2012. In the first five months of 2013, Viet Nam shrimp exports to China (including Hong Kong) increased by 17.9 per cent earning US$108.5 million and the market is still occupying the third position.
Not only being a leading seafood exporter, China is turning into a potential seafood consumer. Some reports showed that in the next decade, seafood imports into China could reach US$20 billion.
Viet Nam’s shrimp exports to ASEAN up 15.5 per cent
According to market report from Globefish, demand for shrimp imports from ASEAN markets is surging in order to meet domestic consumption and raw material for processing. Shrimp imports into Singapore and Taiwan in 2012 increased by 2.1 and 1.1 per cent, respectively.
In the first five months of 2013, Viet Nam’s shrimp exports to ASEAN witnessed a bright growth of 15.5 per cent from that of the same period of 2012, in which exports to Singapore were up of 3.7 per cent, to Philippines up 88.5 per cent and to Malaysia up 16.8 per cent.
Out of ASEAN, Singapore took the lead in buying shrimp from Viet Nam with an import value of over US$10.7 million. In May 2013, shrimp exports to the market went up of 76 per cent. According to statistics from International Trade Center (ITC), Viet Nam was the largest supplier of frozen shrimp for Singapore with a market share of 31.7 per cent.
Disease is expected to sharply slashed Malaysia’s shrimp output in 2013. The country’s shrimp output in QI/2013 was estimated to decrease over 30 per cent to 90,000 MT from 60,000 MT of the same time of 2012. This resulted in serious shortage of raw shrimp in this locality. Therefore, Malaysia will continue to boost importing shrimp and the market will be a promising destination for Viet Nam shrimp in the near future.
