Vietnam's seafood exports continue recovery

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), the value of seafood exports in the first eight months reached nearly 6.3 billion USD, up nearly 9% over the same period last year.

In August alone, this value reached a growth rate of 20% to nearly 953 million USD.

VASEP reported that, apart from squid and octopus, whose export turnover decreased by 15% in August, the exports of all other key products had double- or triple-digit growth. Shrimp exports rose by 30%, pangasius by 18%, tuna by 13%, and other marine fish by 12%.

During the first eight months, shrimp exports reached 2.4 billion USD, up 9% year over year, including 1.75 billion USD from white-leg shrimp and 290 million USD from black tiger shrimp.

Lobster alone maintained good growth momentum in August, so the lobster export turnover in the first eight months was 140% higher than the same period in 2023.

VASEP said that shrimp exports are showing a positive trend, with stable growth in recent months, though they are facing challenges from anti-subsidy and anti-dumping taxes.

Shrimp consumption has begun to increase in Europe and the US, which is a positive sign for the market, although the price of shrimp exported to China is still low.

Pangasius exports in the first eight months increased by 9% on year to 1.3 billion USD. Exports to China remained stagnant, but the recovery of the US market was a lever for pangasius exports to grow. The exports to the US surged by 23% over the same period last year, while the exports to China decreased by 3%.

Vietnam also saw a growth of 21% on year in tuna exports during the first eight months to 652 million USD.

However, VASEP believes that in the coming months, the tuna export market may find it difficult to maintain this growth momentum due to a lack of raw materials.

With Decree 37/2024/ND-CP, effective from May 19, 2024, which requires the size for skipjack tuna to be at least half a metre, companies have been almost unable to buy enough domestic raw material of tuna to produce canned tuna, as well as other export products from tuna.

Squid and octopus exports have been most affected by the IUU yellow card. The issue of certifying the exploitation of this product has encountered many difficulties, causing the enterprises to not have eligible raw materials for processing export products. Therefore, squid and octopus exports in the first eight months fell by 2% compared to the same period last year to 402 million USD.

The association expects that seafood exports for this whole year will be at 9.4-9.5 billion USD, up 6% compared to 2023, because there are still some major challenges curbing the export growth in the remaining months, such as the IUU yellow card, anti-subsidy tax and anti-dumping tax./.