Aquatic exports likely to hit US$3 billion in third quarter

At the beginning of the year, local farmers released shrimp due to the forecast being that the weather would not be too cold, with many expecting to early harvest raw shrimp. However, diseases and the overall quality of shrimp seeds affected the farming results.

According to Ho Quoc Luc, former chairman of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) and chairman of the Sao Ta Foods Joint Stock Company (FIMEX), there can be considered three reasons for the shortage of raw shrimp, including disease, quality of shrimp varieties, and water sources.

By the end of this year, the supply of raw shrimp will not be abundant, whilst prices will remain high, said Luc. This will therefore encourage farmers with the right financial conditions to expand their production.

Although output has not increased and world market prices have not increased, the shrimp export revenue is estimated to have surged by 10% this year.

The higher export value can be put down to promoting deep-processed products which have higher selling prices at shrimp processing enterprises. The higher selling price is therefore partly due to a surge in transport costs, said Luc.

Le Hang, deputy director of the VASEP.PRO Centre, said that the scarcity of raw materials for shrimp and seafood will continue to impact exports moving into the third quarter.

After a substantial increase of 39% to 62% in the first four months of the year, seafood exports started to show signs of cooling from May with a growth rate of 34%. In June, it only increased by 18%.

July saw the growth rate of seafood exports continue to slow down to 14% on-year, earning US$970 million in the process, a 4% compared to June, according to Hang.

The first seven months of the year saw shrimp exports reach US$2.65 billion, up 22% over the same period from last year.

Moving forward, domestic shrimp production and global shrimp demand are forecast to not be positive in the second half of the year.

This comes after shrimp supplies from producing countries increased sharply in the first half of the year. The import volume of major markets, such as the United States and the EU, also increased in the first half, leading to an increase in inventories. Therefore, a slowdown in demand will occur in the second half.

Meanwhile, domestic shrimp production is facing difficulties due to factors such as weather and high costs, meaning raw shrimp will be in short supply in the year's second half.

The export of pangasius, another key item, soared by 56% to US$197 million in July.

Total pangasius exports in the first seven months of this year reached US$1.6 billion, up 79%.

With inflation being too high in many countries and export prices tending to increase, consumers in those countries will seek to tighten their spending and switch to affordable products such as frozen pangasius fillets, fish cakes, and other frozen products, Hang added.