Vietnam’s Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) announced that according to Customs statistics, in November 2021, shrimp exports of the country increased by 16% to over USD 366 million. In which, exports to major markets increased sharply: US increased by 24%; to Korea increased by 19%. The breakthrough was to the EU market, up 86%.
By the end of November 2021, the country’s shrimp exports reached USD3.55 billion, up 3.4% over the same period in 2020.By the end of November, shrimp exports to the EU, increased by 16% to USD548 million and accounted for 15.4% of the country’s total shrimp exports. In which, the three largest importing countries were the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium and accounted for 69% of Vietnam’s shrimp imports into the EU.
In November alone, shrimp exports to the EU reached USD 66.5 million, an increase of 86.4%, of which exports of most member countries had a breakthrough: to the Netherlands increased by 47%, to Germany increased by 87% and to Belgium increased by 118%. In addition, shrimp exports to some other markets in the bloc also increased spectacularly such as to France by 161%, to Denmark by 99%, to Sweden by 196%, to Italy by 123%.
Vietnamese shrimp are imported to Europe through nearly 80 ports. In which, imports through the port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands accounted for the highest proportion of nearly 23%, followed by the port of Hamburg, Germany accounted for over 14% of customs clearance, and the port of Antwerp (Belgium) accounted for over 12.2% of the clearance.
In November 2021, whiteleg shrimp exports to the EU increased by 82% to over USD51 million, while black tiger shrimp exports increased sharply by 158% to USD12.6 million. By the end of November 2021, whiteleg shrimp exports to the EU reached 437 million USD, up 16%, accounting for 80% and black tiger shrimp exports increased 31% to 87 million USD, accounting for 16%.
In the EU, Vietnam is a leading supplier of steamed/boiled vannamei shrimp and other products to supermarkets, due to the long experience in the processing industry and many ASC certified products. Vietnam is the world’s largest producer of black tiger shrimp and the second largest exporter of black tiger shrimp to Europe.
In contrast to black tiger shrimp from Bangladesh, a lot of black tiger shrimp from Vietnam is brought into supermarkets and high-end food service markets of Europe. The main reason is that there are already a significant number of ASC certified black tiger shrimp producers in Vietnam, so these producers can access markets where ASC certification is required. In these markets, Vietnamese exporters face little or no competition.
For more information, the situation of shrimp exports to the EU market and otehr details, register for the Report on Vietnam Shrimp sector in 2016-2021, forecast to 2025.
Seafood exports in 2021
In another news, VASEP General Secretary Truong Dinh Hoe, was surprised with export results according to a report on vietreader.com. The result of seafood export this year is estimated at USD8.89 billion which is surprising.
Hoe said that in the first 6 months of the year, seafood export was quite favoUrable when it reached more than USD 4.1 billion, up 14.5% over the same period last year. However, in July and August, the epidemic took place in a tense situation in Ho Chi Minh City. At that time, in the Mekong Delta, seafood processing factories were still operating normally, but the export speed of seafood had dropped sharply due to broken logistics and China’s increased Covid-19 quarantine on imported frozen goods.
In August, seafood export value decreased by 36% over the same period in 2020. In September, seafood export continued to decline sharply by 23% over the same period.
The seafood industry cannot avoid the fear that the whole year’s export will reach the target of USD8.5 billion or not? Even, VASEP once determined that the whole year’s export can only reach about USD 8.4 billion.
But from October, when seafood enterprises in the South began to restore production, seafood exports quickly recovered when reaching USD 918 million, up 47% compared to September and almost equivalent to US$ 918 million in October 2020.
Seafood exports continued to recover strongly in November so that the total export value in 11 months reached an unexpected figure of USD 8.1 billion.
According to Hoe, Resolution 128/NQ-CP of the Government with its flexible anti-epidemic policy has brought a new breath of life, helping seafood production and export to quickly recover. In addition, the timely support of Working Group 970 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has helped many factories maintain the stage of purchasing and transporting aquatic materials.
The Directorate of Fisheries also regularly gives close instructions on maintaining seafood production and ensuring the supply and circulation of raw seafood for factories during the social distancing period in the South. Many seafood enterprises have also made great efforts, flexibly, finding all measures to reserve raw materials to ensure the maintenance of finished product processing, overcoming huge difficulties in lack of ships, lack of containers, and higher freight.
Hoe affirmed that seafood businesses have shown bravery in the most difficult times. When exports encountered a stalemate, they did not calmly assess the situation and timely adjust production and business plans. As a result, businesses have made good use of the opportunity to accelerate exports in the year’s last months.
Shrimp is still the critical product
Shrimp exports (a key product of Vietnam’s seafood) in 2021 also have very proud results. In the first 7 months of the year, shrimp exports reached more than USD2.2 billion, up 14% over the same period in 2020. In August, due to the impact of social distancing, shrimp exports plummeted by 28% over the same period in 2020 and reached only USD 282.7 million. In September, shrimp exports continued to decrease by 20% to reach US$ 308.5 million.
In October, shrimp exports showed signs of recovery when reaching USD 425.3 million, only a slight decrease of 1.5% compared to October 2020. In November, shrimp exports recovered when reaching USD 366 million, up 16% over the same period last year. As a result, in the first 11 months of 2021, shrimp exports reached USD 3.555 billion, up 3.4% over the same period. It is estimated that for the whole year, shrimp exports will reach over USD 3.8 billion, a slight increase compared to 2020.
As a result, Vietnam is in the top 5 largest shrimp exporting countries in the world, ranked 4th, after India, Ecuador, Indonesia, and ahead of Thailand. According to VASEP, the demand for US shrimp imports from Vietnam has been quite stable since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in the world. During the 4th outbreak in Vietnam, shrimp exports to the US only decreased in August and quickly recovered in September.
According to Hoe, the important factor that helps shrimp exports remain successful in 2021 is that Vietnam has taken advantage of market opportunities when India and Indonesia were severely affected by the Covid-19 disease. Importers believe in the supply ability of Vietnamese shrimp enterprises, so they have transferred many orders to Vietnam.
