China accelerates purchase of live crabs from Vietnam, purchasing power increases 'hotly' by 101%

Seafood exports grow positively

According to statistics from the General Department of Customs, in April 2024, Vietnam's seafood exports reached 776 million USD, up 4.7% over the same period in 2023, after a 3% decrease in the previous month. In the first 4 months of 2024, seafood exports totaled 2.7 billion USD, up 6% over the same period in 2023.

According to the Import-Export Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade), Vietnam's seafood exports increased again in April 2024 when exports to the US increased more strongly, while exports to China recovered, increasing by 4.6% after a decrease of 16.4% in the previous month.

Notably, Vietnam's seafood exports to many markets have grown positively, such as: Canada increased by 45.6%, Germany increased by 52.2%, the Netherlands increased by 32.7%, Russia increased by 73.2%...

For each item, with a turnover of 285 million USD, there was no growth compared to the same period, but shrimp exports in April 2024 still reached the highest level since the beginning of the year. In the first 4 months of the year, the shrimp industry brought in revenue of 971 million USD, 6% higher than the same period in 2023.

According to businesses, shrimp exports to markets are showing signs of recovery because importers' inventories have decreased, so import demand has begun to return.

Seafood exports in the first months of 2024 grew impressively. Photo: TL

However, according to Ms. Le Hang, Communications Director of VASEP, the actual demand of consumers has not yet clearly shown the ability to recover. The Vietnamese shrimp industry is in a "nervous" phase due to information related to anti-subsidy taxes. Currently, the US is considering recognizing Vietnam as a market economy, hoping to achieve positive results that will help remove tax barriers, relieving the burden on Vietnamese shrimp businesses.

Meanwhile, tra fish exports in April increased by 13%, reaching 168 million USD, which is also a green signal worth paying attention to, after a continuous decline in February and March. In the first 4 months of the year, tra fish exports reached 579 million USD, an increase of nearly 2% over the same period last year.

In particular, exports are more positive in the US market, especially after pangasius enterprises participated in the North American Seafood Exhibition in March, followed by the Global Seafood Exhibition in Spain at the end of April. In addition to the main products of frozen pangasius fillets, enterprises tend to increase the introduction of deeply processed pangasius products, value-added goods and attract much attention from importers as well as visitors.

Tuna exports in April increased by 28% to over 86 million USD, bringing the total export value in the first 4 months of the year to 301 million USD, up 22% over the same period last year. Compared to other industries, tuna has had more stable growth in the past 4 months (except for February, down 11% due to the Lunar New Year holiday). While squid and octopus exports decreased by 14% in April, shellfish exports increased by 14%. In the first 4 months of this year, these two industries brought in revenue of 182 million USD, down 4% and 43 million USD, down 2% over the same period in 2023.

Crab exports up to April still maintained an impressive growth of 101%, with China as the main market and the dominant product being live crab. In addition to live crab, other products such as live lobster, sea cucumber, etc. of Vietnam still have great potential in China due to their favorable geographical location and lack of competitive pressure like frozen products.

Continue to untangle the knots

According to Ms. Le Hang, the processing and export industry of tuna, octopus and other marine fish all have the same bottleneck of lack of raw materials, because the exploitation output is not enough to meet demand, so additional supply must be imported.

Crab exports to China are flourishing.

However, EU market regulations and Vietnam's new regulations related to IUU fishing are making the raw material bottleneck even more congested. For example, regarding imported seafood raw materials, the regulation in Decree 37/2024 issued in April 2024 requiring notification and declaration of documents 72 hours before arriving at the port for foreign ships and 48 hours for container ships is not feasible.

Or Decree 37 stipulates: Do not mix imported seafood raw materials with domestically harvested seafood raw materials in the same export shipment. “The new regulation with the unclear concept of “mixing raw materials” causes confusion for businesses and is not reasonable with the actual production and business of seafood enterprises,” Ms. Le Hang commented.

VASEP experts believe that in the coming time, Vietnam's seafood exports will likely continue to recover as demand from the US and Europe increases again. Seafood inventories in many markets are decreasing, while inflation is gradually being controlled, which will be a factor supporting seafood consumption demand in many countries in the coming time. With a stable supply, Vietnam's seafood exports will continue to grow in the coming time, but seafood prices are likely to remain low.

“It is expected that the inventory and oversupply problem will gradually decrease and become more favorable for seafood exporters in the second half of the year. At that time, exports can recover if the bottlenecks in seafood raw materials, including shrimp and pangasius, are removed,” said Ms. Le Hang.

Source: https://danviet.vn/trung-quoc-tang-toc-mua-cac-loai-cua-ghe-cua-viet-nam-suc-mua-tang-nong-101-20240522214205315.htm