Shrimp exports have fallen sharply.

According to Mr. Nguyen Hoai Nam, Deputy Secretary General of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Processing and Export (VASEP), seafood export turnover in the first six months of the year reached approximately 3 billion USD, a decrease of 16% compared to the same period last year. Of this, shrimp, which accounted for a large proportion of exports (approximately 50% in 2014), experienced a significant decline (about 28%), reaching 1.3 billion USD.

Illustrative image. (Source: vtv.vn)

Regarding the shrimp market, Mr. Nguyen Hoai Nam said that normally in June, importers from the US and Europe buy a lot. This year, the trend is different from previous years, with demand decreasing. This may be because importers are hoping for lower prices, as the global supply is currently high. For example, whiteleg shrimp (70 pieces/kg) in India was around 340 rupees/kg in 2014, but in June 2015 it was only 220 rupees/kg. A similar downward trend is also occurring in Thailand.

For Vietnam, shrimp prices have also decreased, but not as much as in other countries. It's possible that importers need the supply but are buying cautiously, according to Mr. Nguyen Hoai Nam.

The second trend pointed out by Mr. Nguyen Hoai Nam is regarding shrimp size. Whiteleg shrimp is a trend among importers, but they are importing more smaller sizes. Therefore, to date, not many orders have been signed, even from countries like India and Thailand.

It is noteworthy that most shrimp import markets have seen a decline, most notably the US market. This is a large market that usually dominates both volume and price. Continuously from the beginning of the year until now, this market has experienced a significant decrease, up to 52%. For example, in May, Vietnam's highest export value was only over $48 million, a 46% decrease compared to May last year. Other markets such as Japan, ASEAN, and Australia have also seen declines.

Mr. Nguyen Hoai Nam stated that only two markets saw growth, but these were markets not previously anticipated by businesses: the UK and Singapore. For example, the UK market previously only received $3-4 million USD per month, but in May, imports reached approximately $9.5 million USD.

According to Mr. Nguyen Hoai Nam, the reasons lean more towards market factors than production aspects. Firstly, the Early Mortality Syndrome (EMS) disease has been largely contained in major producing countries, so global supply has increased from 3.4 million tons to 3.6 million tons. Coupled with tariff preferences, Europe is leaning towards importing more shrimp from the Americas than from Asia.

The second reason is that demand in key markets (as of June, the peak season for the market) is still weaker than in previous years. The third reason is the price drop. When prices fall to balance supply and demand, the way orders are signed or how goods are stockpiled will be different than in previous years.

Based on an assessment of shrimp exports, Mr. Nguyen Hoai Nam believes that achieving the same export value of 3.9 billion USD as last year would already be a success.

According to the Communist Party of Vietnam