Seafood exports enjoy 10 per cent rise in 2019

Vietnam’s seafood exports during 2019 are expected to record an approximate increase of 10 per cent in comparison with the previous year.

Seafood exports during the first 11 months of the year enjoyed a surge of 8.4 per cent to US$2.9 billion against the same period from 2018.

November alone saw seafood exports rise by 2 per cent to roughly US$282 million in comparison with November 2018. Of the figure, tuna exports increased by 5.3 per cent to US$59.4 million, while the exports of other marine fish, excluding tuna, saw a rapid rise of 6.3 per cent to US$143.3 million.

Despite these positives, the export of squid and molluscs dropped 19.3 per cent and 14.8 per cent, respectively.

Elsewhere, the export of Vietnamese tuna during the 11-month period reached a figure of US$668.9 million, up 12 per cent against last year’s corresonponding period.

The United States remains the largest importer of Vietnamese tuna, making up 44.5 per cent of the country’s total tuna exports, followed by the EU with 19.2 pe cent.

Throughout the reviewed period, the nation’s export of squid and octopus hit US$531.2 million with the Republic of Korea remaining as the largest consumer of Vietnamese squid and octopus, accounting for 39.9 per cent of the country’s total value of the products.

Currently, seafood exports to the EU market have been affected by the European Commission's (EC) illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUU) yellow card which was issued to Vietnam in October 2017.

The European Commission is expected to send an inspection team in June 2020 to examine the implementation of the EC’s recommendations for Vietnamese seafood.