Vietnam's shrimp exports to China increase sharply

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), China is the market with the highest growth rate and is continuously among the top 5 largest consumer markets of Vietnamese seafood.

Shrimp are sorted and prepared for preliminary processing at Fimex Vietnam Company (Soc Trang). (Photo: An Dang/VNA)

In 2013, China surpassed South Korea to become the fourth largest consumer of Vietnamese seafood. Shrimp is the most exported item to China, currently accounting for over 60% of the total seafood export value to this market.

According to Vasep, seafood exports to China have maintained double-digit growth for many years. In 2011, seafood exports to this market increased by 40% compared to 2010. In 2012, exports to China continued to increase by 20.5%.

In 2013, seafood exports to China reached about 560 million USD, up 38% over the same period last year; of which, shrimp exports accounted for 68%, reaching about 350 million USD, up 53% over the same period in 2012.

Vietnam's shrimp exports to this market increased sharply because in 2013, China's farmed shrimp output decreased sharply due to the impact of early mortality syndrome (EMS), causing this market's demand for shrimp imports to increase.

China's farmed shrimp output has fallen from a peak of 1.5 million tonnes in 2011 to an estimated 1.1 million tonnes this year.

It is forecasted that the trend of shrimp imports into China will continue to increase in the coming years because China is considered a potential import market. Rising incomes and changing lifestyles have been promoting the demand for seafood consumption in this country, especially high-quality seafood.

In general, shrimp export prices to the Chinese market are quite stable, without much fluctuation. During the period from 2006 to 2013, shrimp export prices to this market were maintained at around 7.5 USD/kg to 8.5 USD/kg and are forecasted to continue to increase in the following years.

However, many seafood experts believe that the sharp increase in shrimp exports to China is not a good sign in the context of a lack of raw materials for markets with high demand and import prices such as the US, Japan and the EU.

Besides the official source of shrimp exports, the situation of traders purchasing raw shrimp regardless of shrimp size and quality to send to China has reached an alarming level.

This situation will continue to have serious consequences for Vietnam's shrimp production and export. Due to the inability to compete in purchasing raw shrimp with traders, many businesses are "stuck" with contracts signed with previous importers. In addition, there is the risk of not being able to control the quality of raw materials, especially antibiotic residues and impurities, which can affect the image of Vietnamese shrimp.

In the current structure of Vietnam's shrimp export products, processed shrimp accounts for 31%, frozen raw shrimp accounts for 69%; while the export rates to China are 3.6% and 96.3% respectively, showing that the shrimp industry is dependent on this volatile market, wasting raw materials for processing value-added products for export to other markets./.

According to Vietnam+