HCM City (VNA)- TheVietnamese shrimp exporters have been in a tough year in 2018 as world supplysaw strong increases that brought down both shrimp price and demand in majormarkets. 

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers,constant decrease in export value in recent months brought the country’s totalearnings from shrimp in the first eight months of the year to nearly 2.3billion USD, down 3 percent year on year.

VASEP General Secretary Truong Dinh Hoe said that increasing trade barriers andsafeguard measures in import markets to protect their own industry also posedformidable challenges for Vietnamese shrimp exports in the recent past.

In recent months, the decreasing trend in price prompted shrimp farmers inmajor exporting countries such as India, Thailand and Vietnam to reduceproduction, which in turn helped the price to pick up. However, when the USdollar is rallying against other several currencies, importers had to cutpurchasing price to compensate for exchange rate differences, leaving littleroom for shrimp price to recover, according to Tran Van Linh, Chairman of ThuanPhuoc Seafood and Trading Corporation.

Evaluating the world’s shrimp supply and demand, Director of An Loc NguyenCo.,Ltd Pham Huu An said that global demand for shrimp will grow stably andsustainably in the coming year, which is estimated at 5.2 million tonnes by2020, and 6.5 million tonnes by 2025.

According to An, Vietnam still has huge potential to bolster exports to the USand Japan. Currently, Vietnam’s shipments to those two countries are stillmodest while their demand is constantly rising. Vietnam’s shrimp accounted for just10 percent of the US’s shrimp demand and 25 percent of Japan’s.

Regarding the EU market, in a bid to capitalise on the Generalised Scheme ofPreferences (GSP), VASEP experts suggested the shrimp sector should increasethe number of GAP farms and upgrade processing factories ensuring that they meetrequirements of EU nations.

As shrimp consumption will grow in many countries on the occasion of the major holidayseason at the end of the year, Vietnamese exporters must make meticulouspreparations for the orders, and take strict control of food safety. This will helpVietnamese shrimp gain competitive edge, and increase prestige and brand in thecontext of abundant global supply.-VNA