Shrimp exports are expected to reach the record level of $3 billion by the end of this year.
According to VASEP, Vietnamese seafood exports in November 2013 gained $650 million. Through November 2013, the figure reached $6.1 billion, equaling to the figure of the whole year 2012. Accordingly, seafood exports in 2013 surely exceed the target of $6.5 billion and may reach nearly $7 billion.
The increase in seafood export turnover this year was largely thanks to shrimp sales. Shipment of pangasius this year reported a modest growth while exports of tuna and cephalopod posted for a continuous decline over the past year.
Through October 2013, shrimp sales achieved a record of nearly $2.5 billion. The figure breaks the previous record of $2.4 billion from shrimp sales of 2011.
Shrimp exports through November 2013 were estimated to obtain $2.7 – 2.8 billion and shrimp exports eyes $3 billion for the full year. If everything is on schedule, shrimp export value in 2013 will be equal to rice exports (over $2.9 billion) and much higher than exports of coffee and rubber.
A good result from Viet Nam’s shrimp exports in 2013 was attributable to higher shrimp price, decline in global shrimp production caused by Early Mortality Syndrome, especially in Thailand, China and Malaysia.
Until QIII/2013, Viet Nam’s shrimp price in some main markets was $2-4 per higher than that of the same time of 2012. In the last quarter of 2013, shrimp price is on upward trend. In the first week of November 2013, the price of Viet Nam shrimp count 13/15 in Japanese market increased by $1 per kilogram.
Output and export revenue of whiteleg shrimp contribute to realise the target of $3 billion in 2013 shrimp exports.
From September 2013 to now, monthly export revenue of vannamei surpassed that of black tiger shrimp. So far this year, vannamei export revenue has exceeded that of black tiger shrimp. Until the end of October, vannamei exports occupied 49 per cent of total shrimp export value while the proportion of black tiger shrimp was 44 per cent. By the end of this year, export turnover of vannamei is likely to reach nearly the record high of $1.5 billion.
According to Directorate of Fisheries, through November 2013, shrimp farming area nationwide reached 652,612 hectares, equaling to 99.2 per cent of the same time of 2012. The figure included 588,894 hectares of black tiger shrimp farming and 63,719 hectares of vannamei farming. Shrimp output obtained 475,854 MT including 232,853 MT of black tiger shrimp and 243,001 MT of whiteleg shrimp.
Farmers in Viet Nam’s coastal provinces of (from Quang Ninh to Phu Yen) reared brackishwater shrimp on the area of 36,879 hectares, making up 5.7 per cent of Viet Nam’s total shrimp farming area and reaped the output of 76,071 MT, accounting for 14.1 per cent of total shrimp production.
Some provinces reporting high shrimp yield were Quang Ninh, Nghe An, Quang Nam and Phu Yen.
In term of seed production, there are 1,722 facilities of black tiger shrimp seed and 583 facilities of whiteleg shrimp seed throughout the country with total production of 68.4 billion shrimp seed including 21.3 billion of black tiger shrimp and 47.2 billion of whiteleg shrimp.
Provinces from Quang Ninh to Phu Yen have 227 facilities, occupying 13.18 per cent of the country’s total number of facilities with production of over seven billion seed, making up 4.8 per cent of the country’s total seed production. Some provinces reporting high production of shrimp seed were Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Quang Nam, Quang Binh and Quang Ninh.
