Seafood exports reached a value of nearly 4 billion USDduring the period, up 12.3 percent year-on-year, according to the VietnamAssociation of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP).
In June, basa fish brought home over 200 million USD, upnearly 33 percent annually, bringing the six-month figure to about 1 billionUSD, up 21 percent.
Apart from those to the EU, basa fish exports to othermarkets remain optimistic, particularly in China and the US.
Thanks to close quality control by the US Department ofAgriculture, US-based consumers and rivals have no reasons to boycott Vietnamesebasa fish. Moreover, positive signs from other markets, such as in China, alsoraised basa fish prices considerably.
VASEP statistics showed that shrimp exports went up 7.6percent year-on-year to top 1.6 billion USD in the year’s first half.
Despite the impact of the EU’s “yellow card” warning onillegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, tuna shipments exceeded 300million USD during the period, up 13 percent year-on-year. Cuttlefish andoctopus exports moved up 13 percent to roughly 300 million USD, while other seafoodexports neared 653 million USD, marking a 14 percent increase.
Firms predicted that seafood exports will keep growing overthe last half of the year thanks to an increase in demand. A number of domesticprocessing enterprises have signed contracts to serve major holidays later thisyear.
Seafood exports to the US, Vietnam’s largest importer, inchedup 1.3 percent from last year, reaching 626 million USD, and was followed by exportsto Japan, up 4.8 percent with a value of around 600 million USD.
Following the IUU “yellow card” warning, seafood exports tothe EU still grew, but only by around 2.7 percent, placing the EU fourth amongVietnam’s major export markets, behind the US, Japan, and China.
With 586 million USD in revenue in the year’s first half, up16.7 percent annually, China is now the third largest importer of Vietnameseaquatic products.
VASEP General Secretary Truong Dinh Hoe said China is likelyto become Vietnam’s largest seafood importer in the near future. Last year,China was ranked amongst the top billion USD seafood export markets in Vietnam forthe first time, coming in fourth place with a value of 1.28 billion USD andaccounting for 15 percent of the market share.
Over the past five years, Vietnam’s basa fish exports toChina have surged 21-31 percent annually.
However, China’s mass purchase of Vietnam’s seafoodmaterials is also harming the supply to domestic processing plants, making ithard for authorities to control the chemical content and quality of seafood materialsfor export, thus hurting the image and trademark of Vietnamese seafood in Chinaand abroad.
VASEP has recently suggested that the Ministry ofAgriculture and Rural Development issue and check quality certificates beforegoods are shipped to China by road, while inspecting seafood processingfacilities to ensure quality.-VNA