Local workers in the southern provice of Ca Mau process shrimp for export. Shrimp exports to the UK reached $9.4 million in May, double the figure from the previous month. — Photo vovworld.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Vietnamese shrimp exports to the United Kingdom have registered a strong growth even as shrimp exports to the European Union have been registering a declining trend since early this year.

Shrimp import volumes in the United Kingdom have declined, but Vietnamese exporters have done well in that market, according to the Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

Statistics from Viet Nam's General Department of Customs show that shrimp exports to the United Kingdom reached US$ 9.4 million in May, double the figure for the previous month.

In the first five months of this year, shrimp exports to the United Kingdom reached $36.2 million, up 50.9 per cent year-on-year.

VASEP General Secretary Nguyen Hoai Nam said shrimp exports to Britain had increased due to a larger supply of shrimp and a lower price for the seafood on the world market.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese shrimp exports to the two key markets of Germany and the Netherlands fell 13 per cent and 9 per cent, respectively, in the first five months this year.

Britons' seafood consumption is on the rise, thanks to health concerns. Consequently, warm-water shrimp and other new types of seafood are on offer in stores, together with traditional seafood such as cod, salmon, tuna and cold-water shrimp.

The association expects shrimp exports to the UK and other European markets to increase. However, the rate of increase is low due to the debt crisis in Greece.

In the first half of this year, Viet Nam saw the value of its seafood exports drop to $3 billion, a 16 per cent fall compared to the same period last year. The value of shrimp exports, which account for nearly half the value of seafood exports, dropped by 28 per cent to $1.3 billion, Vietnamplus reported.

During the first six months of this year, demand for Vietnamese shrimp fell in the US and European markets, which is unusual when compared to the situation the previous year, Nam said. The importers may be waiting for a fall in prices due to the large supply of shrimp in the world market, he said.

Vietnamese exports of shrimp to the US market have fallen since May, when the value of shrimp exports to the US plunged 46 per cent to $48 million.

Nam expects the value of Vietnamese shrimp exports this year to reach $3.9 billion. — VNS