Shrimp exports to China can recover

VASEP said shrimp exports to China may recover slightly in the first months of 2024, after a year of decline.

2023 is a year when the Vietnamese shrimp industry faces many challenges. Data from the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) show that shrimp export value only reached 3,4 billion USD, down 22%. Following this trend, shrimp exports to China also decreased, although the decrease was the lowest (8%) among the main import markets (US decreased 15%, Japan decreased 24%, EU decreased 39%).

In fact, the country’s demand for shrimp imports is still increasing strongly, but because there are too many supplies (for example from India and Ecuador) pouring into this market, it is difficult for Vietnamese shrimp to compete on price. However, VASEP said that thanks to its close geographical location, Vietnamese businesses going to China have an advantage in transportation costs. In particular, tensions in the Red Sea cause shipping costs to increase, which could cause Ecuador to reduce exports to China, creating opportunities for Vietnamese shrimp. In the first months of 2024, VASEP forecasts that shrimp exports to this market may recover slightly.

Similar to China, shrimp exports are also expected to be favorable in the US and Japan. The US market is forecast to increase slightly when food demand improves, inflation cools and retail sales in this country recover. However, VASEP also noted that the American Shrimp Processing Association recently submitted a request to investigate anti-subsidy tax on Vietnamese shrimp. The results are currently unclear, but Vietnamese shrimp was still affected in the first half of this year, in addition to obstacles from tensions in the Red Sea.

For Japan, this market is considered to have more potential to recover sooner than the US and EU in 2024. The reason is that Japanese consumers require products to be delicious, nutritious, beautiful, and sophisticatedly processed. consistent with Vietnam’s level and processing capacity. Popular shrimp products from Vietnam exported to Japan include breaded, stretched, fried, and sushi shrimp. Currently, Vietnamese shrimp still maintains a good competitive advantage in this market. In addition, Japan has a closer geographical location than the US and EU and the payment method is also safer.

On the contrary, with economic and political instability, the EU market will not be able to recover for most of 2024. However, it is expected that shrimp demand in this area will remain stable, not decreasing further.

VASEP said that the recovery momentum for shrimp exports in general will still face many difficulties, requiring businesses to make more efforts to overcome difficulties. It is expected that export turnover of the shrimp industry will reach about 4 billion USD in 2024, an increase of 5% compared to last year.

(Source: https://www.vietnam.vn/)