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Seafood Exports in Q1/2024 Reach Nearly 2 Billion USD

The country's seafood exports by the end of the first quarter of 2024 are estimated to reach nearly 2 billion USD, 8% higher than the same period last year. In March 2024 alone, seafood exports are estimated to reach over 770 million USD, a slight increase of 1% over the same period in 2023.

The US, Japan and China - HK are the top 3 largest import markets, in which exports to the US have had a much stronger breakthrough, with a growth rate of 16% reaching 330 million USD, exports to Japan are equivalent to the same period, in when exports to China - HK increased by 15%.

Source: Vasep

Seafood exports to the US in March still increased by 10% over the same period, while exports to other markets decreased, showing that the recovery ability of this market is increasingly evident. In particular, shrimp exports to the US in the first quarter increased by 15%, tuna, pangasius and crab exports to this market all increased sharply from 13-53%. The average price of pangasius exported to the US is recovering from the low level that hit the bottom at the end of the year, at the end of February at 2.66 USD/kg. Whiteleg shrimp prices also recovered slightly compared to the end of 2023, but were still low compared to the average price over the past 5 years.

Source: Stockfile FIS -->

The US Department of Commerce (DOC) recently announced the final results of the 19th anti-dumping tax review (POR19) on Vietnamese frozen pangasius fillets exported to the US. in the period from August 1, 2021 to July 31, 2022. The final tax rate for POR 19 has been set at $0.18/kg for the five companies. This result is significantly lower than previous PORs.

Also in March, the US DOC announced preliminary anti-subsidy taxes on Vietnamese, Indian and Ecuadorian shrimp, according to which Vietnam's overall tax rate is significantly lower than that of the other two countries.

Exports to China in March decreased by 11% over the same period last year, mainly reducing pangasius and other marine fish, while shrimp exports to this market still increased by over 30%. Pangasius, white-legged shrimp, lobster, anchovies and crab are the 5 Vietnamese seafood species most exported to China. In particular, exports of lobster and crab to this market made a strong breakthrough in the first quarter of this year, of which lobster increased 11 times and crab increased 7 times compared to QI/2023. This country is tightening inspection of imported shrimp from Ecuador, causing supply from this country to decrease, creating space for Vietnamese whiteleg shrimp. In the first quarter, whiteleg shrimp exports to China increased 2.5 times over the same period.

Not only did China and the US increase Vietnam's demand for shrimp and crab, but exports of these two species to Japan also showed positive signs. In particular, whiteleg shrimp exports to Japan increased by 20%, crab exports increased by 23%. In addition, Vietnamese pangasius is increasingly popular in Japan, accordingly, pangasius exports to this market increased by 25% in the first quarter of this year. Japan also targets the Vietnamese market to process seafood products such as salmon, scads, saba fish... Recently, Japan is actively looking for partners to process scallops for this market, after China - Japan's important scallop processing partner - banned seafood imports from Japan.

The EU and Korean markets still do not have clear signs of recovery with Vietnamese shrimp and pangasius, but tuna exports to these markets all grew positively: to the EU increased by 27%, to Korea increased by 15%. ..In general, tuna exports to major markets are quite positive: to the US - the largest market - increased 30%, to Japan increased 9%...

Squid and octopus exports to Korea still increased by 16%, while to other main markets such as the US decreased by 3%, Japan decreased by 21%...

In the first quarter of 2024, the average export price of aquatic products generally increased compared to the end of 2023, but remained at a low level. It is expected that after the International Seafood Fairs in the US, EU, and Japan, orders for businesses will improve and export prices will gradually improve.

There may be new opportunities for Vietnamese seafood when Ecuadorian and Indian shrimp are being warned about antibiotics and labor issues. However, the problems that the Indian shrimp industry is facing such as labor, environment, and antibiotics are also lessons for Vietnamese businesses to be cautious and seriously comply with the regulations of the import market, as well as such as domestic regulations to avoid barriers and protectionist moves in the market.

Author: Le Hang | Vasep (Translated from the original in Vietnamese)

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