January 28, 2011

Vietnam's 2011 shrimp export estimate to remain stable

The forecast for Vietnam's 2011 shrimp export will remain unchanged at US$2.1 billion amid barriers that exporters will face in many importing countries, said the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

Forecasts released yesterday in a VASEP report indicate leading importing countries will have stronger demand for farmed shrimp imports from China and Hong Kong while exports to Japan, the US and European countries will stay stable.

VASEP secretary general Truong Dinh Hoe said in the report that Vietnamese shrimp exporters to Japan would have to compete with rivals from Thailand and Indonesia. Japan has been Vietnam's biggest shrimp importer with annual volume amounting to 39,000-43,000 tonnes over the last three years. Nevertheless, exporters to Japan still struggle with a rule that requires all shrimp imports be checked for prohibited chemicals residues.

In the last three months, there have been 16 shrimp shipments of 11 Vietnamese exporters which Japanese authorities have found to contain residues of herbicide Trifluralin.

Exporters to the US and European countries this year will not be spared either as their shipments will also be inspected.

To adapt to import regulations by most importing markets, the agriculture ministry last year said it wanted half of outbound shrimp sales to be checked so as to make it easier to track the origin of contaminated shrimp.

According to the latest forecast by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, in the first quarter of this year, key shrimp producing countries in Asia will supply less. Exporters in China, Canada and Brazil have reduced the export ratio to focus more on their local markets.

According to VASEP, these factors are expected to give a boost to prices and create more trading opportunities for Vietnam.