Shrimp, prawn demand lifts seafood exports
The export value of seafood in the first half of this year grew strongly due to a sharp increase in shrimps and prawns.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said the value of seafood exports rose by 24.2% to US$3.45 billion, of which 48% to 49% came from shrimps and prawns.
The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers said shrimps and prawns were strongly sought after by the US, the EU, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and China.
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Earlier this year, disease in many shrimps and prawn supplies from other countries led to a boom in the domestic market, which was unaffected.
Tran Van Pham, General Director of Soc Trang Seafood Joint Stock Company, the second largest shrimp exporter in Vietnam, said shrimp exporters were kept busy processing product.
At the end of June, in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta provinces, shrimp and prawn prices rose by VND20,000 per kilogram to between VND120,000-125,000kg for white-leg shrimp and from VND255,000 to 260,000kg for prawn. In mid-June, prices rose from VND275,000 to 280,000 per kilo for prawn.
Pham said that high prices for shrimp and prawn had forced some importers to delay buying Vietnamese products.
The total export value of seafood this year is expected to reach US$6.9 billion, which includes US$$3.5 billion from shrimp and prawn exports, similar to that of 2013.