Nguyen Thanh Bien, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, told that Vietnam’s aquatic export turnover reached US$3 billion in the first none months of the current year, a decrease of five percent of export value compared to the same period last year. He said that if Vietnam can better exploit the market, aquatic products can bring home more $1.75 billion in the last months of the year, raising aquatic export turnover to the reach the year target of $4.4 billion.
Bien also added that the target is less than last year’s turnover, $4.5 billion, but was based on the international economic downturn. Vietnam exported aquatic products to Japan and the US to the tune of $574 million and $530 million respectively. It is no doubt that US has been Vietnam’s biggest aquatic importer but after two anti-dumping lawsuits of tra and basa fish and sugpo prawn in 2000, exports to the US fell.
Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) revealed that overall the US became the fifth largest importer of Vietnam’s sea product market, with an increase of 337 percent in volume and more than 560 percent in value. The US became the fourth largest market from March, after Japan, Korea and the EU. Other markets have fluctuated while US demand has continued to grow over the past few months.
It is informed that the import tariff of Vietnam’s shrimp will be lowered to one to two percent, offering exporters a prime opportunity to get a bigger slice of the market. Japan’s aquatic product imports are expected to rise from September to December and the price for tuna, salmon, surimi, crab, octopus and frozen prawn likely to rise due to limited supply.
