Export product bounce back results in needs to remove raw material bottlenecks

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The main product exported pangasius has increased sharply after decreasing continuously in February and March 2024.

Shrimp exports reached nearly 1 billion USD

According to businesses, shrimp exports to markets show signs of recovery because importers' inventories have decreased and import demands have begun to spring back.

Mr. Ho Quoc Luc, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sao Ta Food Joint Stock Company, said that in April 2024, the company's finished shrimp production increased, reaching 2,130 tons, an increase of 50%, while the consumption output was 1,435 tons, an increase of 22%; Overall sales reached 16.32 million USD, up 17% over the same period last year. With growth momentum, the company has now completed shrimp harvest in April and is currently preparing for the main crop farming process, and proactively preparing sources raw materials to fulfill export orders.

According to the assessment of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), in April 2024, shrimp export maintained the same turnover of 285 million USD year on year, the highest level since the begin of the year. Accumulated in the first 4 months of 2024, the shrimp industry brings in sales of 971 million USD, 6% higher than the same period in 2023.

However, actual consumer demand has not clearly shown the ability to recover. The average price of shrimp exports to markets is still low compared to 2022 and 2023. Vietnam's shrimp industry is in a "suspense" phase due to information related to anti-subsidy taxes. Currently, the US is considering recognizing Vietnam as having a market economy, hoping to achieve positive results that will help remove anti-subsidy tax barriers and relieve the burden on shrimp export businesses. Vietnam.

In addition to shrimp, pangasius exports have prospered again. After a continuous decline in February and March, pangasius exports in April increased by 13% to reach 168 million USD. In particular, exports are more positive in the US market, especially after pangasius businesses participated in the North American Seafood Exhibition in March, followed by the Global Seafood Exhibition in Spain at the end of April. .

In addition to the main products of frozen pangasius fillets, businesses tended to increase the introduction of deeply processed pangasius products and value-added products, attracting a lot of attention from importers and customers. Cumulatively in the first 4 months of the year, pangasius exports reached 579 million USD, up nearly 2% over the same period last year.

Recommendations to remove raw material bottlenecks

According to VASEP, tuna exports in April increased by 28% to over 86 million USD, bringing the total export value in the first 4 months of the year to 301 million USD, up 22% over the same period last year. Compared to other industries, tuna has had more stable growth in the past 4 months (except for February, which decreased by 11% due to the Lunar New Year holiday). However, according to tuna businesses, imports from markets increased again because of lower inventories rather than better markets and export prices.

Up to April,crab exports still maintained an impressive growth of 101%, with the main market and the dominant product are China and live crabs. In addition to live crabs, other products such as live lobsters, sea cucumbers... from Vietnam still have a large potential in China because of their favorable geographical location and are not subject to competitive pressure like frozen goods.

However, according to businesses in the processing and exporting of tuna, squid, octopus and other marine fish all have the same bottleneck: lack of raw materials because the exploitation output is not enough to meet demand, additional supply from imports must be provided. Along with that, EU market regulations and Vietnam's new regulations related to IUU exploitation are causing further bottlenecks in raw materials.

For example, regarding imported seafood raw materials, regulations in Decree 37/2024/ND-CP, issued in April 2024, requires notification and declaration of documents must be 72 hours before arrival at the por for foreign ships and 48 hours for container ships is not feasible.

On the other hand, as stipulated in Decree 37/2024/ND-CP: Do not mix aquatic raw materials originating from imported exploitation with aquatic raw materials originating from domestic exploitation into the same export shipment. Businesses believe that the new regulations with the unclear concept of "mixing raw materials" cause confusion for businesses and are not reasonable with the reality of export production of seafood businesses.

Businesses expect that inventory and oversupply problems will be eventually dealt within order tofacilitate seafood exporters in the second half of the year because only when bottleneck in seafood raw materials and both shrimp and pangasiusare removed, can exports recover and develop.