According to VASEP, by the end of 2018, Vietnam shrimp exports were not as good as expected with a value of only US $ 3.55 billion and 7.8% lower than 2017. Also according to statistics from VASEP, in 2018, shrimp exports only increased in January and March, and decreased in the remaining months.
The cause of this decline was due to the demand for shrimp consumption in big markets like the US and Canada decreased due to snow storms while inventory in Japan, Korea and EU was also high. Domestic shrimp prices in the second quarter sometimes decreased by 20-30%, also affecting supply and market demand and export value.
At the end of 2018, world shrimp prices fell to the lowest level. Supply from shrimp producing countries such as India, Thailand, Indonesia increased, besides, inventory of shrimp in the US was high, so Vietnam shrimp could not export strongly to this market.
In addition, the inventories of India, Ecuador and Indonesia also increased significantly as China tightened the control of exporting shrimp across the border.
In 2018, the value exports of white leg shrimp and black tiger shrimp both decreased compared to 2017, by 3.5% and 7%, respectively. For the export of white leg shrimp and black tiger shrimp, only processed white leg shrimp increased by 4%, the remaining products all witnessed decrease, in which processed black tiger shrimp decreased by 21% compared to 2017.
Vietnam shrimp exports to the four main markets all fell while export value to China dropped 28%, Japan by 9.2%, exports to EU and US decreased by 2.8% and 3 respectively. In contrast, exports to Korea and Canada increased slightly, by 1% and 3.5% respectively compared to 2017.
However, the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) expected to take effect in 2019 will be an opportunity for Vietnam's shrimp industry to make a breakthrough when taking advantage of tariff benefits with the goal of achieving US $ 1 billion export turnover.
As for the US market, Vietnam shrimp exports to the US in 2018 still face strong competition from rival supplier like India along with anti-dumping tax. In 2019, the US is identified as a key growth market for Vietnamese shrimp. The shrimp industry will have to plan to mitigate the impact of anti-dumping taxes as well as low price pressures from India by gradually increasing the export of value-added products without being subject to anti-dumping duties from US market.
Forecasting, in 2019, Vietnam shrimp exports will still face challenges of low supply and price. However, with the attention of the Government, the advantages of FTAs like VKFTA, CPTPP, EVFTA, etc., Vietnam shrimp exports in 2019 are expected to grow well and reach over US $ 4 billion.
Huong Tra