eFeedLink - Price of Vietnam giant tiger prawn falls while whiteleg shrimp rises

Aquaculture

October 31, 2018

Price of Vietnam giant tiger prawn falls while whiteleg shrimp rises

An eFeedLink Exclusive

Price summary

In September, prices of giant tiger prawn generally fell while those of whiteleg shrimp rose.

Price of giant tiger prawn(expressed in VND1,000/kg)
Category (pcs/kg)	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4
20	154	154	154	155
30	165	167	167	165
40	206	205	210	200
*VND1,000 = US$0.045 as of September Source: Vasep (Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporter & Producer)

Price of whiteleg shrimp in Ca Mau (expressed in VND1,000/kg)
Category (pcs/kg)	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4
100	98	98	99	99
80	102	103	101	105
*VND1,000 = US$0.045 as of September Source: Vasep (Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporter & Producer)

Market analysis

Comparing to August, ample supplies pulled down September prices of giant tiger prawn while a supply shortage raised prices of whiteleg shrimp. For tiger prawn, prices for size 20 to 40 pcs per kilogram ranged from VND154,000 (US$6.59) to 200,000 (US$8.56), down by VND15,000 (US$0.64) to 25,000 (US$1.07). Prices of whiteleg shrimp ranged from VND98,000 (US$4.20) to 205,000 (US$8.78) per kilogram, up VND10,000 (US$0.43) to 15,000 (US$0.64). Although prices of whiteleg shrimp were are on an uptrend, farmers were generally not making a profit.

In the first nine months of 2018, output of giant tiger prawn reached 200,900 tonnes, up 5.8% compared to the same period of 2017. Meanwhile, output of whiteleg shrimp hit 237,900 tonnes, up 9.9% compared to the same period of 2017.

However, in terms of overall value, Vietnamese shrimp in the last few months were on a downtrend, especially in the second quarter due to the influence of global shrimp prices. Up till September, shrimp export value neared US$2.7 billion, down 3% compared to the same period of 2017.

Shrimp export value in first nine months of 2018 (million USS)
	First nine months of 2018	Vs. last year (%)
Total	2641147	-3.30
Whiteleg shrimp	1806038	2.00
Giant tiger prawn	607167	-6.90

Market forecast

Shrimp prices are expected to increase in the last few months of the year. However, they should not be a significant increase as supplies from some other countries remain sufficient. Thus, shrimp exports should not experience a strong growth but remain as last year, approximately at a value of US$ 3.8 billion.