Vietnam's seafood exports to other countries have decreased sharply, especially to the US.

In the first 5 months of the year, Vietnam's seafood exports reached only over 3.2 billion USD, down nearly 30% compared to the same period in 2022 and down sharply from 10-50% in all major markets, of which the sharpest decrease was in the US market...

The above information was stated at the 2023 General Meeting of Members and the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), on June 12.

Speaking at the conference, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Sac - President of VASEP - said that from the end of 2022, the association and enterprises have identified Fisheries industry 2023 will be an extremely difficult year when the world inflation situation is getting worse, consumer demand is clearly decreasing, inventories are still high, and seafood exports are unlikely to grow again in the short term.

According to Ms. Sac, the specific results have shown a continuous decline in seafood exports. Specifically, in the first 5 months of the year, Vietnam's seafood exports reached only over 3.2 billion USD, down nearly 30% compared to the same period in 2022 and down sharply from 10-50% in all major export markets. In which, the sharpest decrease was US market down more than 50% year-on-year; the EU market down nearly 32% and China down more than 25%.

Vietnam's main seafood export items all decreased by double digits, of which shrimp decreased by nearly 36%, pangasius decreased by nearly 40% and tuna decreased by more than 30%... Many forecasts say that the demand for seafood in the markets may continue to decrease in the third quarter of this year instead of recovering from the third quarter as previously forecast.

Pangasius farming for export in the Mekong Delta. Photo: CK.

According to the Chairman VASEP, besides the difficulties from the market, recently in the business community there are concerns about the ability to compete with the shrimp prices of Ecuador and India. Besides, there are challenges in the efficiency of pangasius farming when facing high feed costs while the quality of seed sources is unstable. Or the "yellow card" IUU in exploited seafood is also a major limitation for the growth of seafood exports.

“The question is, should we be satisfied with the export results in 2023 being the same as in 2019? I think we can do more when we work together, actively seek solutions to overcome current difficulties and develop. Recently, the Shrimp Committee of VASEP launched the program “For a sustainable shrimp industry” and has initially had positive impacts on the shrimp raw material market.

The Freshwater Fish Committee has also started to develop a pangasius promotion program along with joint activities to re-evaluate measures to improve the supply of fingerlings, feed, and success rate for pangasius. The Seafood Committee is also contributing financially to hire international consultants for the IUU “yellow card” issue. These activities show that we are going together to go further,” said the Chairman of VASEP.

Speaking at the conference, Mr. Phung Duc Tien - Deputy Minister The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) - said that in 2022, the Vietnamese seafood industry achieved very proud results, with strong breakthroughs in exports, overcoming difficulties in markets and raw materials to achieve a record target of 11 billion USD. However, from the third quarter of 2022, difficulties and challenges have clearly been seen, causing production and export growth to slow down compared to the first half of the year. In 2023, there will still be challenges hindering the growth of the seafood export industry...

Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien hopes that VASEP will continue to fulfill its role as a bridge between enterprises and the Government, between enterprises and the fishing community, bringing Vietnamese seafood to international markets, contributing to the increasingly strong and sustainable development of the industry, maintaining its position as the world's third largest seafood supplier.

From now until the end of the year, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development noted that it is necessary to regularly assess market developments, propose solutions, promptly inform and propagate so that people know and have appropriate production plans; strengthen cooperation and solidarity among enterprises in accessing, maintaining and expanding, diversifying markets, and complying with the regulations of Vietnam and import markets.

Timely notify relevant ministries and branches about difficulties in the export process for timely handling measures; continue to proactively propose amendments and improvements to policies to create maximum conditions for production and export activities while still ensuring management requirements and sustainable growth...

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