Shrimp exporters top Taiwan market

Sep 7th at 12:50

07-09-2012 12:50:17+07:00

Viet Nam has been the largest exporter of shrimp to Taiwan for the last five years and Vietnamese shrimp exports remained high this year, according to the Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (Vasep).

The association said that according to the International Trade Centre (ITC)'s statistics on raw shrimp imports into Taiwan, Viet Nam took first place in the list of shrimp suppliers for the market during the 2007-11 period.

Vietnamese shrimp exported to Taiwan represented 24.5 per cent of total shrimp imported by that market in 2011. China followed with 17.5 per cent and Thailand with 16.8 per cent.

Meanwhile, the association's statistics reported that Taiwan was the seventh largest importer of Viet Nam's shrimp after Japan, the US, mainland China, South Korea, Australia and Germany. Shrimp shipments to the market continued to see stable growth during the first seven months of 2012.

As of July 2012, shrimp exports to Taiwan amounted to nearly US$42 million, up 16.2 per cent compared to the same period in 2011. In July 2012, shrimp delivery to the market increased by 23.5 per cent to over $8.2 million while shrimp exports to other markets such as Japan, the US, EU or South Korea sank.

Most of these exported crustaceans are raw black tiger shrimp. In 2011, raw black tiger shrimp made up 87 per cent of all the shrimp exported to Taiwan. As of July, this year's raw black tiger shrimp exports to Taiwan reached $35 million, accounting for 83 per cent of all shrimp exported there.

"Taiwan is considered a promising destination for Viet Nam's black tiger shrimp. In contrast, many major shrimp-consuming markets in the world are in favour of white-leg shrimp," said Nguyen Minh Tam, the association representative.

By mid-August, Vietnamese shrimp exports to Taiwan had seen a year-on-year increase of 17 per cent to $45 million, she said.

However, Viet Nam's black tiger shrimp products faced fierce competitiveness in price with other suppliers due to recent increases in production costs.

Since early this year, Taiwan's economy was hit heavily by the European economic crisis and resulting downturn in the economy of mainland China, the key trade partner of Taiwan.

However, the Taiwanese economy was expected to recover in the last two quarters of the year. Thus, the growth in Viet Nam shrimp exports to that market could continue until the end of this year, she said.

The association also said the national shrimp export value might not reach the targeted export value of $2.5 billion for this year after reductions in turnovers for June and July due to increases in cost and competitiveness on the world market.

The total export value of shrimp fell by 4 per cent in June and 6.8 per cent to $200 million in July against the same months of last year.

The reductions were caused by pressure in competition with foreign rivals such as Thailand, Indonesia, Ecuador and China, high input costs and low demand in major export markets including the US, the EU and Japan, the association said.

The association expected that by the end of the year, local shrimp exporters could overcome their current difficulties due to state policies on credit that would allow them to take out more loans to promote production and export.

The total shrimp export value was estimated to reach $1.7 billion for the first three quarters of this year, including $690 million for the third quarter, it said.

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