Seafood exports rise 13% in eight months

Seafood exports totalled US$2.9 billion in the first eight months of this year, an increase of 13 per cent compared to the same period a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Shimp and tra catfish saw the greatest growth in both volume and value, the ministry said, with shrimp exports rising by 15 per cent in volume during the period to 110,300 tonnes and 20 per cent in value to $929 million.

Tra exports, meanwhile, totalled 361,000 tonnes, a surge of 11 per cent in volume, while earning $774 million, an increase of 6 per cent in value.

The EU continued as the leading export market for Vietnamese seafood, followed by the US and Japan, the ministry said. Seafood exporters shipped 204,600 tonnes to the EU in the first eight months, earning $621 million, an increase of 5 per cent in volume and 7 per cent in value.

The EU market accounted for 28 per cent of the seafood industry’s total export volume and 25 per cent of the total value during the period, the ministry said.

The US alone, however, was the leading buyer of tra fish, while Japan was the leading export market for shrimp.

Both markets have played a leading role in the sustainable growth of the nation’s seafood exports this year, said the ministry, but Russia and Mexico also represented markets of enormous potential.

Duong Ngoc Minh, head of the ministry’s department overseeing catfish exports to Russia, said seafood exporters could have increased opportunities to export to Russia by the end of this year, following two years of success in meeting Russian food quality and safety standards.

While domestic exporters would face stricter Russian sanitary regulations to take effect on October 1, these represented a challenge to exporters to further improve their quality standards, Minh said.

Tra exports of $100 million to Russia this year were within reach, he added.

Seafood producers, meanwhile, were facing stricter domestic food hygiene regulations, issued in ministry Circular No 25/2010/TT-BNNPTNT.

But the Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) was urging the ministry to ease the regulations in order to facilitate the industry in reaching its export targets.

Seafood exports were expected to reach $4.5 billion this year, according to the ministry. VASEP was urging its members to join in international trade fairs to establish further direct contacts with importers. — VNS

Tags: Vietnam Seafood, Vietnam seafood exports