The fisheries industry predicts it will gain $250-260 million in export value each month.—Photo vietfish

HA NOI (Biz Hub)— Viet Nam expects a year-on-year increase of 15 per cent in shrimp export value to US$2.5-2.6 billion, higher than the yearly target of $2.4 billion, according to the Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

The fisheries industry predicts it will gain $250-260 million in export value each month.

In August, shrimp exports saw a dramatic recovery, with export value increasing 38 per cent from last year to $280 million. The shrimp export value for the first eight months this year achieved a year-on-year surge of 18 per cent to $1.7 billion.

Truong Dinh Hoe, VASEP general secretary, said that in early months, shrimp exports faced many challenges, but aggressive efforts by the industry and enterprises had largely been successful.

Meanwhile, exports of other seafood products had reduced, Hoe said. Shrimp exports to the US increased 43 per cent, while those to China went up 37 per cent, those to Canada rose 36 per cent, those to Japan went up 11.4 per cent and those to the EU increased 5.3 per cent.

Early this month, the US dropped an anti-dumping tax it had previously announced, meaning that all 33 Vietnamese shrimp exporters will not have to pay taxes on shrimp products exported to the US.

VASEP said Vietnamese shrimp products were popular in the US because of their size and diversity and expected the US decision to significantly boost exports.

However, shrimp processors face a shortage of raw material because foreign traders purchased a huge volume of shrimp to sell to China, the association said, damaging the reputation and trademark of Vietnamese shrimp and cutting into shrimp supplies that would otherwise be processed for the local market.

This week, the Fisheries Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development required the agriculture and rural development departments of coastal provinces and cities to encourage farmers and enterprises to improve the quality of shrimp.

The VASEP also proposed the State impose an export tax on fresh shrimp that is not processed and frozen in order to limit exports of fresh shrimp and avoid a shortage of raw material at export shrimp processing factories.

At present, the price of shrimp as a raw material increased by an average of VND20,000-30,000 per kilo to VND250,000-255,000 per 20 unit-kilo, VND210,000-220,000 per 30 unit-kilo and VND180,000-185,000 per 40 unit-kilo.

The increase in price was due to high demand for shrimp as a raw material on the local market, the association said. — VNS