Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The price of black tiger shrimp in thefirst months of the year dropped sharply, causing farmers to suffer heavylosses due to the lack of export orders.

Many seafood enterprises said that there have been no new exportorders, so shrimp prices are falling sharply. The price of shrimp has decreasedby 30-40% compared to the beginning of the year, with the current priceat 85,000-210,000 VND (3.7-9 USD), causing farmers to lose from 50-150million VND (2,155-6,465 USD) per tonne of shrimp sold.

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters andProducers (VASEP), last month, shrimp exports only reached 265 million USD,down 33% over the same period last year.

In the first three months of the year, exports reached 600million USD, down 37%.

Specifically, shrimp exports to the US, EU and China weredown more than 40% and to the Republic of Korea and Japan around 20%over the same period last year.

Japan is Vietnam's largest shrimp export market at 17.6% oftotal exports. In the first quarter of this year, shrimp exports to this marketreached more than 105 million USD, down 29% over the same period a year ago.

In the first quarter of this year, Vietnam's shrimp exports to theUS reached more than 104 million USD, down 46% over the same period a year ago.Record inflation, reduced purchasing power, and high inventories from 2022 areall factors that have reduced demand for shrimp imports into the US.

The situation of US shrimp imports from Vietnam depends a loton current inventory. If the situation is positive, import demand mayrecover after the second quarter of this year, according to the VASEP.

Meanwhile, shrimp exports to the EU reached 89 million USD in thefirst quarter, down 44% over the same period a year ago. Shrimp exports to theEU are not expected to recover in 2023 due to the impact of theRussia-Ukraine conflict.

VASEP said that the reason for the sudden drop in exports was thesharp drop in international market demand. In EU, purchasing power hasbeen affected by the impact of inflation and uncertainties related to theRussia-Ukraine conflict, while the US is in oversupply. According todata from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), US shrimpimports in December 2022 hit a 10-year low.

In addition, Vietnam is facing increasing competition from rivalsuppliers such as Ecuador and India.

Vietnam's shrimp sector still faces many difficulties andchallenges in both input and output related to shrimplet quality, diseasecontrol, the ratio of farming areas and product that sometimes does notmeet GAP standards. The production cost of shrimp in Vietnam is still muchhigher than that of Ecuador and India.

In order to increase competitiveness and increase exports,enterprises need to optimise costs, focus on developing added value, improveproduct quality, and actively change product structure to meet the needs ofeach market segment. In addition, businesses also need support from thegovernment in terms of technology transformation and capital./.