Vietnam - the largest shrimp supplier to the UK
(11/15/2019 12:00:00 AM)
Vietnam shrimp exports to the UK have always
achieved positive growth rates since 2012 as the UK has promoted
importing warmwater shrimp as an affordable product that can replace
coldwater shrimp. The price of coldwater shrimp is increasing due to the
fact that the main supplying countries continuously cut their quotas
which resulting in a drop in production. Sales of warmwater shrimp in
British supermarkets and retail channels continued to increase while
sales of coldwater shrimp decreased.
UK
was the third largest importer of shrimp in the EU after Spain and
France. Unlike Spain that importing shrimps for domestic consumption and
processing for export to intra-regional countries, UK imported shrimp
for domestic consumption only.
In
the last 4 years, UK was a remarkable market for many Vietnamese
enterprises. From 2014 up to now, the UK has always been in the 1st and
2nd position for importing Vietnamese shrimp. From 2014 to 2017, Vietnam
shrimp exports to the UK continued to grow from US$114.6 million in
2014 to US$210.6 million in 2017, an increase of nearly 84%.
In
the EU, the UK was the largest shrimp importer of Vietnam, accounting
for nearly 36% of total shrimp exports of Vietnam to EU and accounting
for 6.8% of total Vietnam shrimp exports to all markets. In the fourth
quarter of 2018, shrimp export to the UK dropped by 14% to US$62.6
million due to the impact of Brexit event in the UK. This event partly
disturbs the situation of import and export of goods and demand for
seafood consumption in the UK. However, in 2018, Vietnam shrimp exports
to the UK still increased positively to US$238.4 million.
In January 2019, Vietnam shrimp export to the UK reached over US$16 million, down 4.1% compared to the same period in 2018.
In
2018, British shrimp imports reached US$827.2 million, a decrease of
0.1% compared to 2017. Vietnam was the largest shrimp supplier to the
UK, accounting for 26.4% of the total value of British shrimp imports,
followed by India at 15.1%. Among the main shrimp suppliers to this
market, shrimp imports from Vietnam, Denmark and Iceland went up while
imports from India, Canada and Bangladesh fell compared to 2017.
It
can be said that UK was a remarkable market of Vietnamese shrimp
exporters in the EU because exporting enterprises to this market are
entitled to GSP tax incentives, similar to the general provisions in
exporting to the EU. Processed shrimp products originating from Vietnam
in the UK market have a higher advantage in price and quality compared
to those of India and Bangladesh. Fresh and frozen white leg shrimp size
13/15, 16/20 exports from Vietnam to the UK cost from US$6.67 to
US$8.73 /kg.
Because
the UK is a highly competitive market from rival suppliers, enterprises
need to understand the market to make products suitable to consumers'
tastes here. In order to succeed in the UK market, enterprises need to
provide products with good prices with consistent supplies and the
ability to improve product development to keep up the tastes of people.
VIFEP
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