Promoting seafood exports to Brazil

The Brazilian Government has set a target to raise the seafood consumption power from 9kg to 12kg per person through sales and marketing campaigns.

The General Department of Customs says seafood exports to Brazil from January up to Mid-September increased by 70.6% against the same period last year to US$72.7 million, of which tra fish exports made up US$72.3 million (up 70.5%). Brazil has its highest market growth, but it is still far behind the US (US$273.7 million), the EU (US$267.2 million) and ASEAN (US$86.4 million).

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP) says China, Chile, Vietnam and Argentina are four major exporters of frozen fish fillets to Brazil.

According to the International Trade Centre (ITC), in the first eight months of this year, Brazil imported 118,066 tonnes of frozen fish fillets (worth US$321.4 million), including 51,262 tonnes from China (worth US$108.2 million) and 34,634 tonnes from Vietnam (worth US$70.6 million) and the remaining from other countries.

Vietnam’s tra fish exports to Brazil are expected to pick up as the EU and US markets are yet to bounce back, even though export prices continue to drop to a level lower than last year’s.

The import price of Vietnamese frozen fish fillets is now US$1.93-2.12 per kilogram, compared to US$2.26-2.41 a year ago.

In 2012, frozen fish fillets exports from Vietnam made up 19.4% of Brazil’s import volume while those from China and Argentina accounted for 35.7% and 23%, respectively.

In the list of seafood exporters to Brazil, China is placed second only to Chile and Vietnam sixth fetching US$78.3 million.

Vietnam’s earnings from fish fillet products to Brazil have increased significantly to exceed 3-4 digits. They dropped in 2012 but have kept rising since early this year.