HCM City (VNA) - TheVietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP) has projected shrimpexports to continue gathering momentum this year, particularly in the EU andChina.

Vietnam’s shrimp export value wasestimated at 3.8 billion USD in 2017, up 22 percent from 2016.

The EU was the top importer ofVietnamese shrimp, totaling more than 780 million USD worth of the country’sshrimp products in the first eleven months of 2017, 22.2 percent of Vietnam’stotal shrimp export revenue in the period and an annual increase of 42.4percent. The Netherlands’ imports grew 70.5 percent, the strongest growth amongthe three major EU markets for Vietnamese shrimp products, followed by the UK(54.5 percent) and Germany (5.9 percent).

VASEP General Secretary Truong DinhHoe attributed the outcomes to preferential treatments offered by the EU to someVietnamese shrimp products under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP).Thailand and China do not have this advantage, he said.

Vietnam’s biggest competition in thebloc are India and Ecuador, he noted, adding that Indian shrimp exports to theEU might fall and face a ban due to antibiotics problems. Vietnamese products couldbe a potential replacement, he said.

According to Hoe, to capitalise on theEU’s preferential import tariff, Vietnamese exporters have chosen domesticmaterials and invested more in intensive processing for better value added.

Exporters said Vietnamese shrimp’sbig win in the EU last year came from consumers’ preference for convenientseafood products and higher demand during the year-end holiday season. Sourcesof cold-water shrimps saw higher prices and dwindling supply, increasing thebloc’s demand for Vietnamese imports.

The VASEP said the EU-Vietnam FreeTrade Agreement, expected to take effect this year, will boost Vietnameseshrimp shipments to the bloc thanks to tariff elimination for a number ofproducts, which are currently taxed at 20 percent.

Earnings of Vietnamese shrimpsexported to China grew 60.2 percent to reach 637.9 million USD between Januaryand November 2017.

China has witnessed a reduction ofdomestic shrimp sources due to poor weather and diseases, while demand is risingthanks to the expansion of the middle-income group and tourist arrivals. FromDecember 1, 2017, the country’s tariff on frozen shrimp imports fell to 2percent from 5 percent.

China is forecast to surpass Japan tobecome the second biggest importer of Vietnamese shrimps in the first quarterof 2018.

Apart from these upbeat signs,difficulties were foreseen in quantity and quality of Vietnam’s shrimpproduction, with weather and diseases posing significant risks.

Ho Quoc Luc, head of the Sao Ta foodcompany, pointed to small and scattered production models that make it hard totrace origins, while food safety requirements are being tightened in key importmarkets.

To fulfill the requirements,Vietnamese exporters must focus on quality assessment of materials, which couldcause prices to increase and reduce competitiveness.

In that context, the building ofinternational-standard material areas for shrimp export is key to growing thesector.-VNA