(seafood.vasep.com.vn) The US was the largest crabs importer of Vietnam, accounting for 39.8% of Vietnamese crabs exports to markets. In the first 7 months of 2019, Vietnamese crabs exports to the US were not stable, the export value of this product to the US rose sharply in January and March while declining in the other months.
In July 2019, Vietnam's crabs exports to the US reached US$5.7 million, down 14.9%. In the first 7 months of 2019, the export value reached US$27.8 million, up 3.5% over the same period in 2018.
In the US market, Vietnamese live marine crab (Scylla serrata) with the size of over 200 grams/individual has an average price of about US$14/kg. In addition, the US imports a lot of Vietnamese canned crabmeat with an average price of US$155-200/carton. Crabmeat was sterilized and packed in can with size of 401x301.5 (1 carton = 12 cans).
The US was the largest crabs importer in the world, accounting for about 50% of the world's total crabs imports. Crabs imports into the United States have been increasing continuously since 2015 and the demand for crabs in the US is expected to remain high this year.
From 2014 to 2018, US crabs imports ranged from US $ 1.6 billion to US $ 2.1 billion, of which the import value in 2015 was the lowest with US $ 1.56 billion and that of in 2018 reached the highest of US$2.1 billion. The import value of surimi into this market has increased continuously since 2015.
Canada was the largest crabs supplier for the US, accounting for 45% of the total value imported into the US. Followed by some other suppliers like Russia, Indonesia and the Philippines. These markets accounted for 23%, 12% and 2.9% respectively. Vietnam was the 6th largest supplier for the US, accounting for 2.1%.
In the first 7 months of 2019, crabs imports into the US reached US $ 1.5 billion, up 8.8% over the same period in 2018. Among the top 5 main suppliers, imports from Canada and Russia grew by 2 digits while imports from Indonesia, Philippines, Mexico declined by 2 digits. Imports from China dropped sharply by 53% due to increased import taxes.
In the US market, Canada - the largest crab supplier for the US, always dominates because of a stable supply and competitive prices. Vietnamese crabs have to compete on prices with Asian rivals such as China, meanwhile import prices from Indonesia and the Philippines were higher than Vietnamese crabs.
It is expected that, in the last months of 2019, the consumption of crabs in the US will continue to increase.