Vietnam remains biggest shrimp supplier for Australia

Processing shrimp for exports (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam was thebiggest shrimp supplier for Australia in the first nine months of 2016,accounting for over 33 percent of total imports.

According to the Vietnam Trade Office inAustralia, Vietnam sold more than 18,000 tonnes of shrimp worth over 167million USD in January-August, up 2.1 percent in volume but down 9.2 percent invalue compared to the same period last year.

Australia is the ninth largest shrimp importerin the world, making up about 1.9 percent of global shrimp export revenues.

It is also the seventh biggest shrimp consumerof Vietnam, comprising 3.3 percent of the country’s shrimp exports.

Vietnam’s shrimp exports to Australia registeredthe highest growth in March and September 2016 with respective increases of18.4 percent and 10.4 percent year-on-year.

In September alone, the Southeast Asian nationgrossed over 12 million USD in revenues, up 10.4 percent against the samemonths of 2015.

The Vietnam Trade Office said Vietnam has beenthe biggest provider of shrimp for Australia over the past five years.

However, dueto strict requirements on food hygiene from the market, Vietnam is still unableto export frozen raw shrimp.

Vietnamese agencies are working with theAustralian side to bring this product to the country.

In the fourth quarter of 2016, a delegation ofAustralian experts will conduct a fact-finding tour to Vietnam to inspect itsstandards for exporting raw shrimp./.