Vietnam’s aquatic exports on track to top 10 billion USD

Statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development showed October exports reached 1.1 billion USD, bringing the total revenue for the first 10 months of 2024 to 8.33 billion USD, a year-on-year increase of 12%.

The US, China, and Japan were the three largest purchasers, accounting for 18.5%, 16.8%, and 15.4% of the market share, respectively. Among the 15 major export markets, Russia had the sharpest growth of 94.8% while Thailand experienced a decline of 10.1%.

In October alone, aquatic shipment to China saw impressive growth of 37%. Meanwhile, robust performance was also recorded in the US (up 31%), Japan (22%), the EU (27%), and the Republic of Korea (13%).

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said the US has consistently been Vietnam's largest importer, with annual revenues ranging from 1.5 billion to 2.1 billion USD over the past five years, despite the American market’s anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures.

A recent preliminary countervailing duty determination by the US Department of Commerce set a rate of 2.84% for Vietnamese shrimp, lower than the 4.26% for India and the 7.55% for Ecuador, giving Vietnamese exporters a competitive advantage.

As of the end of October, Vietnam had shipped 1.5 billion USD worth of aquatic products to the US, rising 15% against the same time last year.

Notably, VASEP predicted that China could surpass the US to become Vietnam’s top aquatic product buyer if its import growth maintains at 20% in the remainder of the year.

In the meantime, the EU market shows promising signs of recovery, with exports to the bloc up 11% by October 2024. Vietnamese products have enjoyed significant advantages under the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement as most raw shrimp products receive immediate duty-free status, while competitors like Thailand and India lack similar trade agreements.

VASEP communications director Le Hang said that shrimp and tra fish will continue to be the key exports thanks to growing demand and price recovery in the US, China, Japan, and Australia. She suggested local firms to take flexible measures to capitalise on market opportunities, given a shortage of domestic raw materials.

The ministry said total aquatic output neared 7.9 million tonnes in January - October, up 2.5% year-on-year. Aquaculture production exceeded 4.6 million tonnes, increasing by 3.8%, including 1.44 million tonnes of tra fish and over 1.1 million tonnes of shrimp.

Director General of the ministr’s Directorate of Fisheries Tran Dinh Luan said Vietnamese firms should pay due attention to improving product quality and reducing costs so as to gain competitive edge in the international market, elaborating such large export markets as the US, the EU, and Japan have stringent requirements on product quality, origin traceability, and food safety./.