In October, Vietnam's seafood exports returned to the 1 billion USD mark.

In October 2024, Vietnam's seafood exports are estimated to reach more than 1 billion USD, up 28% over the same period last year, for the first time in 27 months (since June 2022).

On the morning of November 1, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) reported that seafood exports in October increased sharply again, reaching 1 billion USD, a welcome milestone for Vietnamese seafood enterprises. Accumulated to the end of October 2024, seafood exports reached 8.27 billion USD, an increase of 11.4% over the same period in 2023.

According to Ms. Le Hang - VASEP Communications Director, in the context of strong increase in demand for seafood imports from key markets, Vietnam's exports recorded impressive growth in October.

In particular, exports to China and Hong Kong (China) exploded with an increase of 37%, affirming their position as the largest and fastest growing markets in the month. Other markets were equally vibrant: Exports to the US increased by 31%, Japan by 22%, the EU by 27%, while South Korea increased more modestly by 13%.

In October, Vietnam's seafood exports returned to the 1 billion USD mark - (Photo: VASEP)

By the end of October, the total value of seafood exports to China, Hong Kong (China) and the US had reached 1.5 billion USD. Notably, the strong growth trend from China and Hong Kong (China) is likely to surpass the US in the last months of the year, if the 20% growth momentum of the past 10 months is maintained. If this growth rate continues, China and Hong Kong (China) could become the largest import markets for Vietnamese seafood by the end of 2024.

“Although the European economy is recovering more slowly than the US and China, positive signals from seafood consumption and import prices are gradually recovering, showing a positive outlook for Vietnamese businesses. By the end of October 2024, exports to the EU had increased by 11% compared to the same period last year,” said a VESEP representative.

In contrast, exports to Japan and South Korea only grew modestly at 1.5% to 2%. Factors such as persistent inflation have greatly affected consumer demand in these two markets. Japan, once one of Vietnam's top two import markets, dropped to third place in 2024, with a turnover of 1.25 billion USD in the first 10 months of the year, while South Korea only reached 646 million USD.

In that context, shrimp and pangasius are two products with greater growth potential in 2024. By the end of October 2024, shrimp exports had reached more than 3.2 billion USD, up 13%, while pangasius exports were nearly 1.7 billion USD, up 10%. In October alone, shrimp and pangasius exports had a strong breakthrough, with increases of 26% and 24% respectively, far surpassing tuna and octopus.

Shrimp and pangasius are two products with greater growth potential in 2024 - (Photo: Dieu Linh).

“Good news for the Vietnamese shrimp industry is that on October 22, 2024, the US Department of Commerce announced preliminary countervailing duties (CVD) on shrimp imported from Ecuador, India and Vietnam, in which the tax rate for Vietnamese shrimp is 2.84%, significantly lower than 4.36% for India and 7.55% for Ecuador. This is an important competitive advantage for Vietnamese shrimp in the US market.

Although the shrimp and pangasius industry is in the peak import season, it is still facing a shortage of domestic raw materials. Enterprises need to be more flexible in using reserve raw materials and alternative sources of supply to make the most of market opportunities," said a representative of VESEP.

In the seafood product group, crabs and shellfish have maintained strong growth momentum since the beginning of the year. In October, crab and other crustacean exports increased by 58%, while shellfish increased by 138%. In the first 10 months of the year, these two product groups achieved revenue of 267 million USD and 173 million USD, respectively, up 66% and 58% compared to 2023. With a decrease in seafood imports from the US, especially high-end products, China has increased imports from Vietnam, creating opportunities for these two product groups.

Although tuna, squid and octopus exports recorded positive growth in October, they tended to slow down compared to the first half of the year due to the impact of regulations in Decree 37 on regulations for controlling exploited seafood, causing the certification and certification of seafood at many fishing ports to stagnate. In particular, skipjack tuna - the main raw material for canning - was completely blocked from the exploitation stage, because fishermen were afraid of violating the regulation on the minimum size of skipjack tuna of 0.5m or that they would not be able to sell their catches to export processing factories.

"The seafood industry is anxiously waiting and hoping for more positive results after the EU's IUU inspection program scheduled for November 2024. If the scenario is favorable, it is hoped that tuna exports this year can reach the target of 1 billion USD like in 2022," emphasized a representative of VESEP.

Source: https://congthuong.vn/thang-october-xuat-khau-thuy-san-viet-nam-tro-lai-moc-1-ty-usd-356155.html