Shrimp exports rise despite Covid-19

By Dat Nguyen December 24, 2020 | 09:31 pm PT

Workers process shrimps at a factory in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by Shutterstock/By Nguyen Quang Ngoc Tonkin.

Shrimp exports are set to increase by 12.4 percent this year to $3.78 billion despite the major impact Covid-19 has had on the seafood industry.

Exports to most markets were steady in the first 11 months, including the U.S., the EU, China, the U.K., Canada, and Australia even as Vietnamese companies diversified their markets amid the pandemic, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said.

The U.S. remained the largest buyer, with its purchases of $806.6 million representing a 34 percent increase.

It was followed by Japan, China and the E.U., with exports to the bloc jumping in the third quarter thanks to the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement.

Shrimp was a major contributor to seafood exports’ recovery to pre-pandemic levels after exporters were left with few orders in the second quarter due to the pandemic.

Its exports grew 11.3 percent year-on-year to $3.4 billion in the period while demand for pangasius fish fell by 24 percent and for tuna by 9.5 percent.