US, China compete to buy shrimp, crab, fish from Vietnam

In the first 3 months of this year, the US and China 'raced' to buy shrimp, crab, and fish from Vietnam - Photo: QUANG DINH

This information was provided by the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) in a report sent to the Government Office and a unit on the situation of seafood production and export, difficulties, and proposed solutions for seafood businesses.

According to Vasep, by the end of the first quarter, seafood exports reached nearly 2 billion USD, an increase of more than 8% over the same period last year. The US, Japan and China are the top 3 largest import markets.

Of which, exports to the US grew much stronger, increasing by 16% to reach 330 million USD.

Shrimp exports to the US in the first quarter alone increased by 15%, while tuna, pangasius and crab exports to this market all increased sharply from 13-53%.

The average price of pangasius exported to the US is recovering, reaching $2.66/kg by the end of February. The price of whiteleg shrimp has also recovered slightly compared to the end of 2023, but is still low compared to the average price over the past 5 years.

According to Vasep, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) recently announced the final results of the 19th anti-dumping tax review (POR19) on frozen pangasius fillets exported from Vietnam to the US in the period from 2021 to 2022.

The final tax rate for POR19 was set at $0.18/kg for five companies. This result is significantly lower than previous PORs.

Also in March 2024, the US DOC announced preliminary anti-subsidy duties on shrimp from Vietnam, India and Ecuador, according to which Vietnam's overall tax rate is significantly lower than that of the other two countries.

Exports to Japan in the first quarter of this year remained at the same level as last year.

Meanwhile, exports to China - Hong Kong increased by 15%. Pangasius, white-leg shrimp, lobster, anchovy and crab are the five most exported Vietnamese aquatic products to China.

In particular, lobster and crab exports to this market surged in the first quarter of this year, with lobsters increasing 11 times and crabs increasing 7 times compared to the same period last year.

"This country is tightening inspections on shrimp imported from Ecuador, causing the supply from this country to decrease, creating room for white-leg shrimp from Vietnam. In the first quarter, white-leg shrimp exports to China increased 2.5 times compared to the same period last year" - Vasep informed.

The EU and Korean markets have yet to show clear signs of recovery for Vietnamese shrimp and pangasius, but tuna exports to these markets all grew positively, with 27% growth in exports to the EU and 15% growth in exports to Korea...

In general, tuna exports to key markets are quite positive, with an increase of 30% to the US and 9% to Japan...

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Proposal to abolish quotas on Vietnamese shrimp exported to Korea
According to Vasep, the amount of Vietnamese shrimp exported to Korea has far exceeded the allowed quota (15,000 tons/year, 0% import tax).
Therefore, Vasep recommends that the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Industry and Trade pay attention to and direct the consideration of abolishing quotas on Vietnamese shrimp exported to Korea, within the framework of the VKFTA trade agreement, during the review period this year 2024.
Vasep also said that currently, the issuance of raw material certification (S/C) after businesses bring raw materials to factories in many places is taking a long time, with many batches taking up to 2-3 months, which greatly affects the production and export of businesses.
Therefore, it is recommended that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development consider changing the regulations and immediately issue a certificate of raw material exploitation to the cargo owner, when the cargo owner has completed unloading raw materials from the ship under the supervision of port staff regarding the type, volume... at the fishing port.

TN (according to Tuoi Tre)

Source: https://baohaiduong.vn/my-trung-quoc-dua-nhau-mua-tom-cua-ca-tu-viet-nam-378766.html