Vietnamese pangasius always remain at top as country’s leading seafood export but this year shrimp has top the list because of its prices that touched the highest level in 10 years due to high demand in the United States. Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that shrimp exports in the first five months of the year topped $558 million (€427.1 million), making it the country’s most valuable seafood export.
The U.S. prices of the shrimp soar by 40 percent to nearly $14 (€10.7) per kilo. Shrimp was not the only raw material to see its value increase over the period – combined, the general increase in prices drove Vietnam’s seafood exports up by 17.5 percent compared to last year to $1.63 billion (€1.2 billion).
The ministry informed that the seafood exports for Vietnam for the whole of 2010 could increase by 13.4 percent from last year to $4.8 billion (€3.7 billion), it said. This would represent around 1.35 million tons of seafood, including 660,000 metric tons of pangasius.
Meanwhile the higher prices failed satisfy the Vietnam’s shrimp industry as they also hit its own domestic supply. The ministry shows that raw material prices within the country also drastically increased, with white shrimp prices rising by nearly 50 percent compared to last year in some regions.
