Shrimp exports are forecast to hit roughly US$3 billion as the first five months of the year witnessed shrimp exports rake in US$1.2 billion, a drop of 34% compared to the same period from 2022, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

During the reviewed period, Vietnamese shrimp exports to the United States hit US$227 million, a decline of 42% on-year.

The reason for the decrease in shrimp exports to the US is that the price of raw shrimp from Vietnam was higher than that of rival suppliers such as Ecuador, India, and Indonesia.

Furthermore, due to high inflation, consumers were able to save money by choosing cheaper food, while the inventory remained high along with falling product quality and high storage costs.

This comes amid interest rates in the US increasing, at an even higher than Vietnam, thereby negatively affecting the demand for shrimp imports of this market.

Moving forward, it is anticipated that the US shrimp import demand may increase slightly from August onwards in a bid to serve the demand for the year-end festival.

In relation to the EU market, the initial months of the year saw consumption demand slow, with five-month shrimp exports to the EU hitting US$153 million, a decline of 49% over the same period from last year.

This can be put down to the Russia-Ukraine war, consumers spending thriftily, coupled with increases in the prices of goods and gasoline increases, as well as depreciation of the EUR.

In this market, Vietnamese shrimp was also having to compete with Ecuadorian and Indian shrimp.

Recently, Ecuador and India began to increase exports of processed goods to the EU, although it could not fully meet the requirements of this fastidious market.

Therefore, there remains plenty of room for Vietnamese processed shrimp in the EU market.

In terms of markets such as Japan, China, Hong Kong (China), and the Republic of Korea, Vietnamese shrimp exports to these market all suffered respective decreases of 27%, 22%, and 29%, with this being down to factors such as high inflation, depreciated money, people spending sparingly, and high inventory.

Shrimps are a key product with a turnover accounting for 40% to 45% of the total export value of the nation’s seafood industry.

Vietnamese shrimp exports are therefore showing signs of improvement, with this boost being later than the initial forecast of the end of the first quarter of the year.

Truong Dinh Hoe, general secretary of the VASEP, said that this improvement is based on the export data of March, April, and May in the US showing that the highly lucrative market began to increase their shrimp imports from Vietnam and from other countries, with inventory problems starting to be resolved.

The amount of raw shrimp will not be too short over the coming period if the market recovers from July.

However, Hoe forecast that by the end of the year, shrimp exports would reach only US$3 billion, with this figure “already a success”.

However, this stands lower than the target of over US$4.3 billion set by this industry for this year, he added.

VOV