Strategies needed for shrimp sector to meet export target: insiders

Hanoi – Businesses, farmers, and management authorities need to pen rational strategies in response to market changes so as to create breakthroughs and concretise the set export revenue target of 4-4.3 billion USD for the whole year, experts have said.

As of the end of July, Vietnam shipped nearly 2 billion USD worth of shrimp aboard, up 7 per cent year-on-year.

Secretary General of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) Truong Dinh Hoe said that the posive growth has not fully reflected the formidable challenges facing the industry in major markets such as the US, the EU, and Japan.

He elaborated that the US, the largest purchaser of Vietnamese shrimp in 2023 with a turnover of 682 million USD, has not recognised Vietnam as a market economy yet, which means Vietnamese exporters will continue to be discriminated in US anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations.

Meanwhile, the actual production costs of Vietnamese firms will not be recognised but instead, the “surrogate value” of a third country will be used to calculate dumping/subsidy margin in such cases, he said, adding Vietnamese shrimp exports face difficulties right in its key market.

Statistics from the General Department of Vietnam Customs showed that following the expansion in the first months of the year, shrimp exports to the US fell on inflation-weary consumers' tightening their belts, surging costs of sea freight, and fierce competition from those from Ecuador and India.

According to experts, stiff competition is expected in China, the biggest market of the Vietnamese shrimp during the January – May period, for the remainder of the year. China imported 436,000 tonnes of shrimp in the first half, 75 per cent of which came from Ecuador.

Vietnamese exporters said ocean shipping costs have skyrocketed more than 40 per cent since May, placing their products at a disadvantage in transoceanic markets.

Despite challenges, VASEP said, the industry maintained its export growth in major markets, including China (24 per cent), EU (32 per cent), the US (9 per cent), and Japan (4 per cent).

VASEP forecast better export situation in the coming time on the back of higher demand from the US and China from the end of Q3 to serve holiday.

Vietnamese shrimp has kept its competitive edge over supply from India and Ecuador in Japan, the Republic of Korea (RoK), Australia, the UK, the US, and the EU thanks to intensive processing and various added-value products.

Insiders said eco shrimp play an important role in the industry’s development as it can easily break into fastidious markets, while farmers should focus on developing farming area, preparing raw materials, and expanding markets, adding they are important measures that help the sector improve its intrinsic strength and stand ready to compete in large markets.

They further said that enterprises also need support from competent authorities to reduce trade barriers like anti-dumping and anti-subsidy taxes in the US, as well as quota on shrimp export to the RoK, which have adversely impacted on the industry’s growth.

Director General of Minh Phu Seafood Joint Stock Company Le Van Quang said businesses must invest in advanced technologies to create more intensively-processed products with high values to conquer international markets.

Amid rising tensions in the Red Sea and the EU’s commitment to remove tariffs, there’s a promising opportunity for Vietnam’s shrimp exports to Europe, albeit with strict conditions ahead.

The export market in the first half of this year has painted a decent picture for shrimp businesses, but generally still behind the country’s previous medium-term ambitions.

Vietnam witnessed a rise in shrimp exports over the first seven months of the year.