Aquatic product exports fetch US$5.5 billion in 8 months
Export revenue of aquatic products in August hit US$739 million, pushing total earnings in the first eight months of 2018 to US$5.5 billion, up 5.3% year on year, reported the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
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Leading markets of Vietnam’s aquatic products in the reviewed period were the US, Japan, China and the Republic of Korea, making up 53% of the country’s total export volume.
Strong growth was also seen in other markets, including the Netherlands with 40.7%, Hong Kong (China) with 23.3%, and Germany with 19.2%.
In August, Vietnam imported US$128 million worth of aquatic products, bringing total imports of the product in the eight months to US$1.14 billion, up 24.1% year on year.
According to the MARD’s Department of Agro-product Processing and Market Development, Vietnam has opportunities to boost aquatic product exports as global shrimp price falls, hurting shrimp farming in India and Thailand. Specifically, India’s shrimp output may fall 20% in 2018, while shrimp production of Thailand, affected by recent shrimp epidemic, is just about 300,000 tonnes this year.
Meanwhile, shrimp demand at the end of the year is predicted to surge. Many Vietnamese exporters have received big orders for festive events later this year.
At the same time, tra fish export revenue is expected to rise, especially in the Chinese market.
However, false information on Vietnamese tra fish has been spread in Romania, which may affect sales in the country and other markets. The department has worked with the Vietnamese Trade Councellor in Romania to tackle the issue.
In the domestic market, the price of material tra fish in the Mekong Delta region in August was stable at VND26,000-27,000 per kilo after falling from May. However, due to a shortage in supply, the prices of fries still increased.
The material shrimp price in the Mekong Delta was also kept stable, despite a slight rise in the price of white-leg shrimp.
