While many other exports decreased, shrimp exports continued to maintain growth since the beginning of the year. According to VASEP, global shrimp production had dropped 15 percent compared to two years ago due to the Early Mortality Syndrome (EMS) in Asia and Mexico, while Thailand and China – the world’s biggest shrimp production and processing industries are at the center of the outbreaks. This has created opportunities for other major shrimp exporters such as India, Ecuador and Vietnam. The price of Vietnamese export shrimp increased US$2-4 per kilo. This was why Vietnamese shrimp exports in most months of this year grew 19-66 percent compared to the same periods last year.

Shrimp exports to the US increased 62.6 percent, while those to Japan were up 12.8 percent, those to the EU grew 14.8 percent, those to China soared 42.8 percent, and those to the Republic of Korea (RoK) improved 7.2 percent. The US surpassed Japan to become the largest importer of Vietnamese shrimp. Shrimp exports to the US came to US$542.7 million in the first nine months of this year, an increase of 62.6 percent over the same period last year, with those in September 2013 alone increasing 138.7 percent over the same month last year.

Lan said that in September, the 33 Vietnamese shrimp exporters (accused of dumping shrimp into the US), were no longer defined to have dumped shrimp into the US market and therefore their shrimp exports to the US are subject to a zero (0) percent anti-dumping tax. Also in September, the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) vetoed anti-subsidy duties of 4.52 percent suggested by the US Department of Commerce (DOC) for Vietnamese shrimp in anti-subsidy lawsuits granted by the US domestic shrimp industry initiated in late December 2012. She said that these two decisions not only reduced the cost burden for Vietnamese shrimp exporters but also proved that the US has recognized Vietnam’s shrimp export industry - an economy that the US considers as a non-market system - has been operating under the market mechanism and does not receive any subsidy from the government.

After the third quarter of this year, Vietnam surpassed China to become the biggest exporter of shrimp to the RoK with about 6,700 tonnes of shrimp. In the third quarter, Vietnam's shrimp exports to the RoK grew 77 percent over the same period in 2012. The RoK is one of the five largest importers of Vietnam shrimp, accounting for about eight percent of Vietnam’s total shrimp export value and is one of the few major markets that have maintained positive growth for years.

Experts said that from now until the end of the year, shrimp exports will further increase as market demand remains. Vietnamese shrimp is highly appreciated in terms of quality and price. Shrimp exports are expected to reach US$2.8 billion in 2013, 27 percent more than 2012.

However, to achieve this goal, Lan said that it is necessary to solve the industry’s biggest problem that unprocessed shrimp continued to be sold to China through unofficial cross-border trade, explaining that this problem would not only cause Vietnamese export seafood processors to face raw material shortages but also affect the prestige of Vietnamese products if Chinese companies export substandard products and announce that these products were made from shrimp imported from Vietnam.

Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Domestic Market Department Director Vo Van Quyen said that to ensure quality control of raw shrimp exports, the ministry has instructed local departments of industry and trade to prevent people with foreign tourism passports from buying material shrimp, and that the ministry has been working closely with relevant authorities to strictly control the export of shrimp through border crossings in order to ensure sufficient raw material supplies for domestic production./.

Source: Vietnam economic news