VASEP advised Vietnam’s businesses to focus on the market of frozen whole shrimp and value-added products rather than competing against the domestic fresh shrimp segment in China.
According to VASEP, shrimp exports to China reached over 173 million USD in quarter 3, a 15% y-o-y increase, marking the first positive growth quarter in the past nine months. In the previous quarters, shrimp exports to this market had decreased by 31% and 8% compared to the same period last year. Cumulatively for the first nine months of 2023, Vietnam achieved 454 million USD from exporting shrimp to China, down 6% from the same period in 2022.
Shrimp exports to China in June, July, and August all showed positive growth as compared to the same period in 2022, because demand for shrimps after Covid-19 was more stable. On the other hand, the supply from Ecuador to China decreased after quarter 2; as a result China increased their purchases of Vietnamese shrimps.
However, in September, Vietnam’s shrimp exports to China decreased by 13% due to poor consumption after the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day. In the first nine months of 2023, the average price of frozen white leg shrimp sent to China ranged between 4.9 and 7.9 USD/kg, while frozen vannamei shrimp were prized at 8.2-13.8 USD/kg.
VASEP noted that China offered quite low prices due to abundant supply. However, China remains an important market for Vietnamese shrimp, especially when China is imposing a ban on importing seafood from Japan.
VFM
