Shrimp export forecast to remain stable in 2011

The country’s 2011 shrimp export will remain unchanged at US$2.1 billion though exporters will continue facing barriers in many importing countries, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

Forecasts released on Wednesday in a VASEP report indicate leading importing countries will have stronger demand for farmed shrimp imports from China and Hong Kong while exports to Japan, the U.S. and European countries will stay stable.

VASEP secretary general Truong Dinh Hoe said in the report that Vietnamese shrimp exporters to Japan would have to compete with rivals from Thailand and Indonesia. Japan has been Vietnam’s biggest shrimp importer with annual volume amounting to 39,000-43,000 tons over the last three years.

Nevertheless, exporters to Japan still struggle with a rule that requires all shrimp imports be checked for prohibited chemicals residues.

In the last three months, there have been 16 shrimp shipments of 11 Vietnamese exporters which Japanese authorities have found to contain residues of herbicide Trifluralin.

Exporters to the U.S. and European countries this year will not be spared either as their shipments will also be inspected.

To adapt to import regulations by most importing markets, the agriculture ministry last year said it wanted half of outbound shrimp sales to be checked so as to make it easier to track the origin of contaminated shrimp.

According to the latest forecast by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, in the first quarter of this year, key shrimp producing countries in Asia will supply less. Exporters in China, Canada and Brazil have reduced the export ratio to focus more on their local markets.

According to VASEP, these factors are expected to give a boost to prices and create more trading opportunities for Vietnam. – Saigon Times

Tags: Vietnam shrimp exports