VASEP forecasts 2020 seafood exports at US$8.6 billion

Ho Chi Minh City – Although Covid-19 continues to develop complicatedly in major importing markets such as the United States and the European Union, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) expects that Vietnam will be able to export seafood worth US$8.6 billion this year thanks to a high demand at the end of the year.

Workers of the Minh Phu Seafood Corporation process shrimp at a plant of the firm at Nam Song Hau Industrial Park in Hau Giang Province. VASEP forecasts that Vietnam will be able to export seafood worth US$8.6 billion this year - PHOTO: VNA

According to the association’s statistics, the country’s seafood exports constantly tumbled in the first half of the year due to the impact of Covid-19 and started recovering in July, the local media reported.

The country reported a 10% year-on-year increase in seafood exports in September, 12% in October and 13% in November.

Thanks to this recovery, Vietnam had earned more than US$7.8 billion from seafood exports as of the end of November.

Shrimp is a key export earner with a double-digit growth rate since June and a surge of 25% in September and October and 28% in November. The revenue from shrimp exports amounted to US$3.5 billion in the 11-month period, up nearly 14% year-on-year.

If the situation is maintained, Vietnam can generate some US$3.85 billion from shrimp exports this year.

As for tra fish, its export turnover plunged 17%-35% from March to September and bounced back in the next two months, sending the total tra fish export revenue in January-November to US$1.34 billion, down 24% from the same period last year. The figures are expected to hit US$1.54 billion and 23%, respectively, versus last year.

Vietnam may record a tuna export revenue of US$720 million this year, while squids and octopus are expected to bring back US$565 million.

The major importing markets of Vietnam’s seafood, including the United States, the European Union and China, posted a respective growth of 25%, 30% and 15% last month.

For the whole year, the revenue from seafood exports stateside may reach US$1.65 billion, up 12% over last year. Meanwhile, the revenue from the European Union was estimated at US$992 million, down 2.4% against 2019, and China with US$1.48 billion, up 5%.

However, China has tightened control over seafood imports since mid-November due to fears over the spread of Covid-19, so seafood exports to this market will grow slower in the last month.