According to VASEP, Vietnam's seafood exports in July reached US $ 793 million, up 10% from the previous month. In 7 months, Vietnam exported US $ 4.7 billion, equal to the same period in 2018.
In July, seafood export to major markets recovered, of which, China market saw the strongest growth of 51%. Accumulated 7 months, except for the EU and South Korea decreased by 10% and 3%, respectively, the rest of the other markets all grew, of which Japan up by 11%, China increased by 5%, the US increased by 2%.
Shrimp exports grew strongly
VASEP said that in July, shrimp exports began to recover with a quite high increase of US $ 334 million, an increase of 13.4% compared to June. In which, the main markets all saw good growth like Australia with the strongest growth of 56%, China increased by 48%, the US market increased by 37%.
In the US market, thanks to strong increase in exports in July, shrimp exports to the US market in the first 7 months of the year increased by 5% compared to the same period last year.
Shrimp exports to China also increased slightly, up nearly 2% thanks to July export surge. Currently, main shrimp exports are still on the rise. From June, white leg shrimp exports increased by 1.5 times compared to the previous month, this trend is expected to continue to bring positive results in the last months of the year.
Meanwhile, in the Japanese market, although the export volume remained stable and the market demand did not increase, the average export price downed 1 USD / kg from 12 USD to 11 USD, making the export value to the market decreased slightly by nearly 3% to US $ 329 million. Meanwhile, shrimp prices from Thailand and Indonesia were stable at 11 USD / kg, Indian shrimp prices dropped slightly to 9.3 USD / kg.
Tra fish exports decreased in the US, rising in China
In contrast to shrimp, tra fish export only reached US $ 1.13 billion in the first 7 months, down 5.5% over the same period. In which, except for China market with strong growth of 71%, the rest of all markets fell. Specifically, the US market decreased by 42%, the EU decreased by 16%, to ASEAN by 14%, Mexico by 28% and Brazil by nearly 30%.
According to Truong Dinh Hoe, the Chinese market still needs to import seafood with an output of about 3 million tons / year and Vietnamese tra fish is favorite in this country. Along with that, the Chinese market has officially approved for 33 exempted seafood products into this country that helped to boost the export of tra fish to this market increased strongly in the first 7 months of the year.
Meanwhile, in the US market, due to the impact of anti-dumping tax in the POR14 period, tra fish export to the US dropped sharply in the second quarter (down nearly 42%).
Seafood export increased by 13%
In the first 7 months of the year, export of seafood products reached over US $ 1.8 billion, up 13% compared to the same period last year. In which tuna increased by 20% to US $ 429 million, other marine fishes increased by 18% to US $ 904 million, while octopus and octopus decreased by 3% to US $ 341 million.
In July, tuna exports maintained a growth of 16% thanks to demand from the US (up 61%) and Japan (up 85%). However, other seafood products such as squid and octopus decreased of 2.5%.
IUU “yellow card” continues to affect seafood exports to the EU market. In addition, the issue of certification of exploited and imported materials is still inadequate, causing the export to stall.
Seafood exports will prosper at the end of the year
Commenting on the export situation at the end of the year, VASEP forecast that, shrimp export tends to be more positive in the US, China and Japan markets thanks to the decrease in inventories and increasing demand. Along with that, shrimp production in India is forecasted to decrease by 20-30% due to weather effects and falling prices.
Meanwhile, tra fish exports will also grow strongly in the second half thanks to the Chinese market. Currently, export enterprises as well as Chinese importers have caught up with the requirements.
With tuna, exports will continue to maintain good growth in the second half of the year in the US and China markets. With the EU market, it will depend on the results of EU inspections at the end of October 2019 assessing the implementation of recommendations against IUU fishing.
Exporting other seafood products is also affected by IUU yellow card but it is possible that businesses will push to other markets outside the EU, so export can still maintain positive growth in the last months of the year.
Previously, VASEP forecasted that in the 2nd half of this year, seafood export will recover with a growth of about 5% to over US $ 5 billion, bringing the total export of the whole year to about US $ 9 billion, a slight increase of about 2% compared to 2018.
Huong Tra