 Shrimp exports in the first five months of the year topped $558 million (€427.1 million), making it the country’s most valuable seafood export, said Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
This was led by a huge increase in the export prices of shrimp, with U.S. prices soaring by 40 percent to nearly $14 (€10.7) per kilo.
Shrimp was not the only raw material to see its value increase over the period - combined, the general increase in prices drove Vietnam’s seafood exports up by 17.5 percent compared to last year to $1.63 billion (€1.2 billion), the ministry said.
“Since early 2010, the price of many types of seafood in the world has risen very sharply due to limited supply,” the ministry said in a statement.
This means seafood exports for Vietnam for the whole of 2010 could increase by 13.4 percent from last year to $4.8 billion (€3.7 billion), it said. This would represent around 1.35 million tons of seafood, including 660,000 metric tons of pangasius.
Pangasius, however, formed an exception to the rule as a “big decline in import prices from the European Union” caused domestic prices to drop to VND15,500 ($0.81/€0.62) a kilo, it said. This was compounded by feed prices, which increased at an average of 40 percent.
As a result pangasius exports dropped to $536 million (€410.2 million) over the first five months of the year, making it the country’s second most valuable seafood export.
A catch-22?
However, the higher prices are not all good news for Vietnam’s shrimp industry as they also hit its own domestic supply. The ministry shows that raw material prices within the country also drastically increased, with white shrimp prices rising by nearly 50 percent compared to last year in some regions.
According to its data, raw shrimp cost an average of VND 118,000 (€4.68/$6.12) to VND 180,000 (€7.14/$9.33) per kilo in June, while white shrimp sold at around VND 54,000 (€2.14/$2.8) to VND 58,000 (€2.3/$3) per kilo. (Intrafish) |
