Industry players see shrimp production in Vietnam -- with its cost advantages through lower wages -- as key to the future of the Chinese shrimp aquaculture sector.
Access to cheaper shrimp from Vietnam keeps a lid on prices for processors and other buyers of shrimp in mainland China, Didier Boon, managing director of East China Seas, which sources shrimp and tilapia in China for export markets, explained to IntraFish in our new Chinese Aquaculture report.
Prices have weakened in 2015 through improved supply of domestic shrimp “but there is a limit to how far the prices can go because Chinese buyers can get the shrimp from Vietnam,” said Boon.
There is one complicating factor however: China has in 2015 been seeking to clamp down on cross-border customs duty evasion and a major target is third-country food products funneled through Vietnam.
If the crackdown succeeds in eliminating third-country supply coming through Vietnam then China’s shrimp supply could tighten, providing for higher prices for domestic shrimp producers.
