April 22, 2020 — Glimpsing beyond a current lack of demand from Vietnam’s major export markets, executives at the country’s top shrimp trading firms are expressing deepening concern about a possible global shortage of shrimp in the latter half of the year.
Once COVID-19 began to spread beyond its origins in China, one by one, Vietnam’s shrimp-trading partners have significantly throttled down their imports. Starting in late February and early March, many importers in Europe stopped receiving cargoes, and by mid-March, customers in North America, the rest of Asia, the Middle East, and South America also increasingly decided to cancel or postpone orders. Stockpiles rose as companies could not export as planned, according to numerous executives interviewed by SeafoodSource. As a result, Vietnam’s export value of shrimp declined nearly 15 percent year-on-year to USD 207.7 million (EUR 190 million) in March, according to Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).