Shrimp exports are forecast to face difficulties

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), June was the first month of this year that shrimp exports recorded negative growth, after continuously growing positive double digits in the previous 5 months.

Specifically, in June, shrimp export value decreased slightly by 1% to nearly 416 million USD. Accumulating 6 months, shrimp exports reached 2.3 billion USD, up 31% over the same period last year.

According to VASEP, the reason for the decrease in shrimp exports in June was the limited supply of raw shrimp in the country, and the slowdown in demand from the US and EU markets. The unusually strong increase in shrimp export turnover in the first months of this year is also attributed to the increase in freight costs.

Contributing to the increase in selling prices, the consequences of Covid-19 at the end of 2021 made many shrimp businesses reduce processing and speed up repayment of orders at the beginning of this year, and rising inflation also partly affected shrimp consumption prices. .

In the top 4 main markets of Vietnamese shrimp, in which shrimp exports to the US market fell for the first time, in June, shrimp exports to the US reached over US$93 million, down 36% over the same period.

According to VASEP explaining that high inflation affects people's spending behavior, they will spend more sparingly. Shrimp is also considered a high-grade protein, so people's consumption demand is somewhat flat.

However, according to the first 6 months of the year, shrimp exports to the US market are considered to be quite stable, reaching nearly 483 million USD, up 10%.

Mr. Tran Van Pham, General Director of Soc Trang Seafood Joint Stock Company (Stapimex), said that the shrimp industry this year has many difficulties due to high domestic raw material prices and inflation in foreign markets. China has re-imported shrimp, but shrimp from India and Ecuador are still stagnant in other markets, so Vietnam's export situation is also affected.

Unlike the shrimp export market to the US, the export market to Japan and the EU remained stable, in which, shrimp exports to Japan increased continuously, ranging from 6-23%. In 6 months, shrimp exports to the Japanese market reached nearly 333 million USD, up 15% over the same period.

According to the assessment, the shrimp export market to Japan is expected to remain stable from now until the end of the year. The cost of freight to Japan is not as high as to the US and EU. Inflation in Japan is also lower than the rising inflation in the US and EU. These are considered as supporting factors for Vietnam's shrimp exports to Japan.

Like the Japanese market, shrimp exports to the EU are quite stable, shrimp exports to this market in June still maintained a stable growth rate, up 37% to over $74 million. In 6 months, exports to the EU market reached 378 million USD, up 48% over the same period.

In the context of price inflation, the EVFTA is an even more favorable factor to support shrimp exports to the EU. However, Vietnam's shrimp exports to the EU in the coming months will continue to be affected by inflation in Europe, the euro depreciating against the USD.

Mr. Tran Van Dieu, Chairman of the Board of Directors, General Director of Thai Minh Long Seafood Company, Bac Lieu Province said: The company's shrimp export market is mainly to Japan, currently still very stable, talking about shrimp exports to Japan. some markets such as the US, EU... were reduced.

Mr. Dieu said, for Vietnam's shrimp industry, after being exported to the EU, US or Japanese markets, it is often processed deeply along the value-added chain, so the export value is high, while one Some shrimp exporting countries like India, Ecuador, mainly export preliminary products, the price of raw materials is also cheaper than Vietnam by about 1 USD/kg of shrimp. Therefore, many countries have chosen to import preliminarily processed shrimp to replace deep-processed shrimp, which will be cheaper.

According to Mr. Dieu, currently some local shrimp farming in the country is in a situation of shortage of raw materials for processing, because people are afraid to stock up because of high input costs, on the other hand, in some provinces. such as Bac Lieu, Ca Mau or Soc Trang ... is in the rainy season, so people also limit the slow release of farmed shrimp.

Source: Trong Linh - nongnghiepviet.vn