AsemconnectVietnam - Vietnam’s exports of seafood slightly decreased in the first seven months of this year compared with the same period last year, showed the statistics figures of the General Department of Customs.

Meanwhile, the imports of seafood increased slightly year – on – year.

Vietnam’s exports of seafood in first seven months of 2019
According to the preliminary statistics figures of the General Department of Customs, Vietnam’s seafood exports in the first 7 months of 2019 reached nearly 4.69 billion USD, down slightly by 0.8 per cent compared to the first 7 months of 2018.

In July of 2019 alone, it reached 793 million USD, up by 9.8 per cent compared to June of 2019 and by 3.6 per cent compared to July of 2018. Japan, the USA, EU, China, and Korea were the major seafood export markets of Vietnam. The exports to Japan reached 811.07 million USD, accounting for 17.3 per cent of the country's total seafood export turnover, up by 10.4 per cent over the same period of 2018; the exports to the US reached 802.59 million USD, up by 1.2 per cent, accounting for 17.1 per cent; to the EU market reached 723.39 million USD, accounting for 15.4 per cent, down by 11.4 per cent; to China reached 592.7 million 440.86 million USD, accounting for 9.4 per cent, down by 3.9 per cent; to Southeast Asia accounting for 7.8 per cent of the country's total seafood export turnover, reaching 364.13 million USD, down by 0.6 per cent over the same period of 2018.

Although the country's overall seafood export turnover in the first 7 months of this year declined, there were still some markets with a sharp increase in turnover over the same period last year. Concretely, the exports to Iraq increased by 49.7 per cent to 8.16 million USD; to Ukraine - increased by 47 per cent to 13.15 million USD; to Cambodia - increased by 41.8 per cent, reaching 19.93 million USD; to Brunei – increased by 35.6 per cent, reaching 1.18 million USD.
However, the exports of seafood to Saudi Arabia dropped sharply by 98.8 per cent over the same period last year, reaching only 0.17 million USD. Besides, the exports to some markets also dropped sharply such as: to Pakistan - decreased by 69.6 per cent, reaching 3.99 million USD; Czech - decreased by 32.7 per cent, reaching 2.49 million USD; to Israel - decreased by 32.2 per cent, reaching 42.51 million USD; to the Netherlands - decreased by 31.3 per cent to 127.14 million USD.

Exports of several kinds of seafood in the first seven months of 2019
In the first 7 months of 2019, pangasius exports reached 1.13 billion USD, down by 5.5 per cent over the same period of 2018; shrimp exports reached 1.8 billion USD, down by 8 per cent; in which, the export of while-leg shrimp accounted for 68.2 per cent, tiger shrimp accounted for 21.6 per cent and the rest was marine shrimp. White-leg shrimp exports reached 1.2 billion USD, down by 7 per cent; while the exports of tiger shrimp reached nearly 383.7 million USD, down by 15 per cent; other marine shrimp reached 181 million USD, up by 5 per cent; processed black tiger shrimp saw the strongest drop of 34 per cent, and canned sea shrimp increased the most by 57 per cent.

The exports of shrimp to China in the first 7 months of this year reached over 285 million USD, up by 1.7 per cent over the same period last year; while the exports to the EU reached 377.5 million USD, down by 21.3 per cent. Shrimp exports to the EU were mainly processed shrimp with few competitors, mainly Thailand and Indonesia. Processed shrimp has a high tax rate without GSP (from 10-20 per cent), so it will be difficult for Vietnamese competitors to compete on price.
Shrimp exports to Japan reached nearly 329 million USD, down by 2.8 per cent compared to the same period of 2018, while the exports to the US reached 327.4 million USD, up by 5 per cent.

Vietnam’s seafood imports in first seven months of 2019
In the first 7 months of 2019, seafood import turnover reached over 1.05 billion USD, up by 4.4 per cent compared to the same period of 2018.
According to the preliminary statistics figures of the General Department of Customs, Vietnam’s seafood imports in July of 2019 increased by 15.2 per cent compared to June of 2019 and also increased by 17.9 per cent compared to July of 2018, reaching 172.56 million USD. In the first 7 months of 2019, seafood import value reached over 1.05 billion USD, up by 4.4 per cent over the same period of 2018.

Vietnam imported seafood mostly from Norway, India; China, Japan and Southeast Asia; in which the imports from Norway continued to increase strongly, with the value of 128.37 million USD in the first 7 months, accounting for 12.2 per cent of the total seafood import value, up by 25.6 per cent over the same period of 2018. In July of 2019, the country’s imports of seafood from Norway increased sharply by 91.4 per cent compared to June of 2019 and also increased by 74.3 per cent compared to July of 2018, reaching 24.26 million USD.

The country’s seafood imports from the Indian market in July of 2019 plummeted by 29 per cent compared to June of 2019 and also fell by 55.4 per cent compared to July of 2018, reaching 14.65 million USD. In the first 7 months of this year, the imports of seafood from India also dropped sharply by 46.8 per cent over the same period last year, reaching 122.96 million USD, accounting for 11.7 per cent of total seafood import value of the whole country.
Meanwhile, the imports of seafood from Southeast Asia in July of 2019, despite a drop of 0.1 per cent compared to June of 2019 but still reached 16.53 million USD, but for the first 7 months of the year, the figure still remained an increase of 41.1 per cent over the same period last year, reaching 112.65 million USD, accounting for 10.7 per cent of the country's total seafood import value.

In addition, Vietnam also imported seafood from China with 81.02 million USD, up by 22.5 per cent; fron Japan - 77.05 million USD, up by 20.3 per cent; from Taiwan - 63.51 million USD, up by 1.3 per cent; Indonesia - 63.34 million USD, up by 30.6 per cent.

Imports of seafood from several leading markets
In the first 7 months of this year, only 5 seafood import markets saw a decrease in import value over the same period last year. In addition to the Indian market, the imports from Chile also decreased by 17.7 per cent, reaching 37.9 million USD; from Myanmar - decreased by 5.9 per cent, reaching 4.15 million USD; from South Korea - decreased by 6.5 per cent, reaching 44.22 million USD; and from Poland - decreased by 5.9 per cent to 4.15 million USD.
The import markets saw sharp increase in value over the same period last year, including: the Philippines - increased by 214.1 per cent, reaching 16.26 million USD; the US - increased by 79.5 per cent, reaching 54.48 million USD; Canada - increased by 43.7 per cent, reaching 34 million USD; Malaysia - increased by 41.3 per cent, reaching 5.91 million USD.
CK
Source: VITIC