July 15, 2015

Vietnam's shrimp exports fall in EU, rise in UK

Vietnam's shrimp exports to the United Kingdom has maintained high growth for many months, even when other markets in the European Union tended to decline.

Data from the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) showed that exports to the EU were down from January to May by 13.8% (/contents/07-06-2015/6d98463d-0b12-42e3-9b93-b89e1101fa7b-a181.html).

In contrast, statistics from Viet Nam General Customs showed that in May, Vietnamese shrimp exports to the UK reached US$9.4 million, double from the previous month. Through May, total shrimp exports to this market reached US$36.2 million, up 50.9% year-on-year.

Overall, UK shrimp imports have not shown good growth in the last five years. According to the International Trade Centre (ITC), in the first four months of this year, shrimp imports fell 2.9% as the euro continued to fall against against the dollar, causing importers to pay higher for the same commodity.

Vietnam is reported to be the fifth biggest shrimp supplier to the UK market in the first four months of this year, after Bangladesh, India and Canada, with a 10% market share.

Vietnamese shrimp is also competing with those from Thailand and Indonesia. From January to April, shrimp imports into the UK from Vietnam grew 16.8%, while imports from Indonesia and Thailand dropped 30% and 22% respectively.