Vietnam’s shrimp export volume in the first half of 2009 inched up 1.8 percent over the same period last year to 72,288 tons, on the back of increased demand in the key markets of the U.S. and Europe.
But revenue for the period fell by 4.7 percent from the first half of 2008 to $589.2 million, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).
In June alone, the country exported 19,000 tons of shrimp worth US$148 million, an increase of 13.5 percent in volume and 3.9 percent in value over the same period last year.
Early this year, Vietnam’s shrimp exports have shown signs of recovery after seeing a decline in demand from the U.S. and Europe.
Exports to the U.S. picked up in April and experienced double-digit growth by the end of last month, Vietnam News Agency reported.
In the first six months of the year, Vietnam exported 15,191 tons of shrimps to the U.S., fetching $147.3 million, an increase of 18.3 percent in volume and 2.1 percent in value over the same period last year.
In related news, VASEP general secretary Truong Dinh Hoe told Tuoi Tre newspaper on Monday, the association would announce a list of businesses exporting shrimp which do not use banned weight-gaining substances.
The list is being drawn up to encourage local exporters to protect the Vietnamese shrimp brand in international markets, following shipments being sent back for failing food safety and hygiene tests.
Last month, a number of consignments of Vietnamese seafood including shrimp being exported to China were held up at Mong Cai Border Gate in northern Quang Ninh Province. The seafood was found with illegal weight-gaining substances pumped into the products by Vietnamese and Chinese traders.
The practice is committed mostly by farmers and small dealers in the Mekong Delta provinces of Bac Lieu, Ca Mau, and Kien Giang. Freshly-caught shrimp are soaked in sugar water or injected with agar to increase weight, Saigon Economic Times reported.
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