Vietnamese shrimp exports grow well despite the Covid-19 pandemic

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), Vietnam's shrimp exports in 2020 reached US$3.73 billion, up 11% compared to 2019.

Thanks to Vietnam's success in controlling Covid-19, shrimp production and processing were not interrupted like in many other shrimp exporting countries, thereby maintaining an advantage over competitors.

The largest market for Vietnamese shrimps in 2020 was the US. In the first 11 months of 2020, shrimp exports to the US reached more than 75 thousand tons, worth US$804 million, up 30.1% in volume and 33.9% in turnover over the same period in 2019.

Not only Vietnam’s largest export market, the US is also the most stable market for Vietnamese shrimps. Vietnam shrimp exports to the US continued to grow steadily in all months of the first 11 months of 2020, despite the fact that the US was seriously hit by Covid-19. Shrimp imports into the US have been growing thanks to increased demand in the retail segment.

The second largest market of Vietnamese shrimp is Japan. In the first 11 months of 2020, shrimp exports to Japan reached more than 59 thousand tons, worth US$550 million, down 7.3% in volume and 3.1% in value. Following Japan is the EU with 57 thousand tons and US$472 million, up 3.5% in volume and 5.6% in value.

Vannamei continues to be the key product among Vietnam's shrimp exports. Among Vietnam's exported shrimp products in 2020, live/fresh/frozen vannamei accounted for the largest proportion with 38%; followed by processed vannamei with 35%; live/fresh/frozen tiger shrimps accounted for 13%; Other processed shrimps 12%; Other processed tiger shrimps 2%.

Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the demand for shrimps in food services (ie. restaurants and hotels...) dropped sharply. However, the demand in the retail segment increased, thus vannamei shrimps, which are more suitable for the retail segment because of their cheaper price and smaller size compared to tiger shrimps, increased, accounting for a high proportion in Vietnam's shrimp exports.

Shrimp farming in Vietnam is directed to increasing vannamei production. In 2020, the total area for shrimp farming was 736.5 thousand hectares. The output of harvested vannamei was more than 632 thousand tons, tiger shrimps 268 thousand tons, other shrimps 50 thousand tons.