Vietnam’s seafood exports enjoy strong surge despite challenges

Vietnam raked in an estimated 4.5 billion USD from exporting aquatic exports in the first five months of 2022, up over 44.5 percent over the same period last year, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

Vietnam’s seafood exports enjoy strong surge despite challenges. (Image for illustration/Source: VNA)
Vietnam’s seafood exports enjoy strong surge despite challenges. (Image for illustration/Source: VNA)

Despite various challenges and difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and global changes in the last two years, Vietnamese seafood enterprises have seized opportunities to expand exports, and won orders with much higher prices than those in 2021.

The positive results were attributed to the recovering and booming demand in many markets, the shortage of supply, and the increasing inflation in many countries.

Vietnamese seafood processors and exporters have fully tapped advantages from the high inflation of the US market, China’s zero-COVID policy, and the strongly recovering demand in the European market to increase their exports to foreign markets.

Notably, exports of shrimp, tra fish and other key commodities to the US market recorded higher growths compared to 2021.

Vietnam’s seafood exports to China reached over 700 million USD in the first five months, a sharp rise of 94 percent year-on-year. The export of tra fish to the market accounted for 53 percent of the total seafood exports in the period.

According to Truong Dinh Hoe, General Secretary of VASEP, Vietnam's aquatic export is hoped to hit 9 billion USD in 2022.

To achieve this goal, exporters need to strictly comply with market regulations as well as meet any additional need for individual market, accurately label their products, and pay attention to controlling the quality of products, Hoe said.

He also advised businesses to seek opportunities to increase their market share of tra fish in the context of a shortage of white fish supply in European countries, and have solutions to take advantage of the Europe Union – Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).