Japan remains top Vietnamese shrimp importer

Japan held its position as the largest Vietnamese shrimp importer last year, after buying a total volume of 57,000 tonnes worth more than US$493 million.

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), figures showed decreases of 3.3% in volume and 1% in value against previous year, and accounted for 29.5% of Vietnam's total shrimp export revenues.

The US came second with revenues of US$395 million, down 15.4% from a year earlier, accounting for 23.6%. EU bloc came third with its import volume of 41,000 tonnes valued at US$281 million, up 26.5% in value, raising the bloc's share to 16.6% from 14.4% in 2008.

Other big importers were South Korea and Australia which imported 16,429 tonnes and 8,000 tonnes of shrimp worth US$107 million and US$72 million, respectively, from Vietnam.

Last year, Vietnam earned US$1.67 billion from exporting nearly 210,000 tonnes of shrimp, up 3% in value and 9.4% in value against 2008.

The country targets to export US$1.9 billion worth of shrimp this year, including US$1.4 billion from prawn shrimp and US$500 million from white-legged shrimp (vannamei).