Shrimp, crab, fish are in high demand, seafood exports are confident of earning 10 billion USD

The US, China, EU... increased purchases of shrimp, pangasius, crabs, and mollusks, helping Vietnam earn 8.23 ​​billion USD in the first 10 months of the year. If the growth momentum is maintained, seafood exports this year will earn 10 billion USD.

Workers processing seafood for export - Photo: THE KIET

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the value of seafood exports in October is estimated at 1.1 billion USD. This is the first time in 27 months (from June 2022 to present) that seafood export turnover has returned to the billion USD mark in a month - a welcome milestone for Vietnamese seafood enterprises.

In the first 10 months of this year, the seafood industry earned 8.3 billion USD, up 12% over the same period last year. The US, China and Japan are the three largest markets for Vietnamese seafood.

Among the 15 main seafood export markets, Russia is the market with the strongest increase in value (up 95%).

Mr. Truong Dinh Hoe, General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), said that after 4 years of disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic, war, inflation, and market developments gradually stabilizing, Vietnam's seafood exports in 2024 have returned to the usual trajectory of accelerating in the second half of the year.

In which, key products all had significant breakthroughs compared to the same period in 2023 such as pangasius increased by 10% (1.7 billion USD), shrimp exports increased by 20% (3.2 billion USD), crabs increased by 59% (267 million USD), shellfish increased by 137% compared to the same period (173 million USD). However, tuna exports tended to stagnate and octopus exports decreased.

"Shrimp and pangasius exports both had positive export results thanks to the recovery in demand and prices in the US and Chinese markets, along with the strength of value-added products in other markets such as Japan and Australia...

The recovery and breakthrough of major import markets, especially the US and China, have boosted Vietnam's seafood exports in recent months and the last months of the year," Mr. Hoe assessed.

The recovery of market demand and the upward trend in export prices are factors that help seafood exports confidently earn 10 billion USD in 2024 - Photo: THANH THUY

According to Vasep, in the past 10 months, the total value of seafood exports to Vietnam's two largest markets both increased and reached 1.5 billion USD, of which China increased by 37% and the US increased by 31%.

It is forecasted that if exports to China continue to grow, this market is likely to surpass the US in the last months of the year to become Vietnam's largest seafood export market this year.

For the European market, although recovering more slowly than the US and China, positive signals from seafood consumption and import prices are gradually recovering, showing a positive outlook for seafood exporting enterprises in the last months of the year.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said that if the export momentum is maintained in November and December, earning about 900 million USD each month, this year's seafood export will reach 10 billion USD or more than 10 billion USD.

Shrimp exports to the EU face difficulties

According to Vasep, shrimp is a special aquatic species that fishermen exploit near shore using small boats, do not need a fishing license and do not need to install VMS equipment (because the boats are under 15m), most of them dock at the beach, cannot update the eCDT software, leading to ineligibility for issuing a certificate of raw material exploitation (S/C) and a certificate (C/C) for shrimp raw materials exported to Europe according to current regulations.

Currently, the output of shrimp floss is quite large in the Central provinces and European customers have a great demand for this product.

To increase value and livelihoods for fishermen, as well as to avoid bottlenecks in exports to the EU.

Vasep recommends that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development consider shrimp floss as a special case to issue specific guidance documents allowing S/C confirmation for shrimp floss raw materials for production of export goods to the EU market.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tom-cua-ca-dat-khach-xuat-khau-thuy-san-tu-tin-thu-ve-10-ti-usd-20241104000831538.htm