Seafood exports set to top US$7b this year
The country’s seafood exports are expected to reach US$7 billion this year, a year-on-year increase of 5.5 %, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Producers and Exporters (Vasep).
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“In the early months of the year the seafood sector faced difficulties and challenges. Then a balance in supply and demand in the world market helped the prices of some seafood products recover.”
Thanks to that, exports of certain items like shrimp and tra fish have increased this year, though the growth was not high, he said.
The country earned US$5.7 billion from exports in the first 10 months of the year and shipments are expected to increase significantly in the remaining months of the year because demand in the main import markets usually goes up during the year-end festive season, he said.
“We have high expectations for seafood exports in the two remaining months of the year. This will be an encouragement for seafood exporters amid market difficulties as well as a slow recovery in key export markets. This will be a foundation for us to prepare better for 2017.”
Tra fish
Tra fish was the second largest seafood export item, with exports in the first nine months being worth US$1.23 billion, up 6.2 %.
Exports of tra to the US saw good growth but exporters encountered difficulties due to anti-dumping duties and that country’s catfish inspection programme.
Exports to China surged by 75.6 %, making it Vietnam’s second largest tra buyer.
Vietnam expects to earn US$1.66 billion form tra exports this year, a year-on-year increase of 6.4 %.
Tuna is the third largest export earner, with revenues 3.8 % year-on-year to US$354.6 million.
Exports of other kinds of fish were worth US$816 million, up 7.3 %, while exports of mollusc (cuttlefish, octopus and bivalve mollusc) were worth VNĐ360.4 million, a decrease of 3.4 %.
