(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In the fourth quarter of 2018, Vietnam's bivalve mollusks exports reached US$22.5 million, a rise of 8.4% compared to the same period in 2017. In which, EU market still accounted for the largest proportion in total bivalve mollusks exports with over 62%, followed by the US, Japan and China with 24%.
Total export of bivalve mollusks in 2018 reached nearly US$89 million, down 10% compared to 2017, mainly due to the fact that exports to EU declined by 20%. Although exports to the US, Japan and China markets went up, this increase was not enough to overcome the negative growth.
In Vietnam 's bivalve mollusks products, clams accounted for over 90%. In particular, Vietnam mainly exported processed clams to markets such as Europe, the US and Japan, only a small part of live/frozen clams were exported to Singapore via air route.
In 2018, Vietnam exported bivalve mollusks to 53 markets, compared to 2017 with 64 markets. Top 5 key markets EU, US, Japan, China and ASEAN accounted for 92% of export value.
Export of bivalve mollusks to EU market in quarter III/2018 went down by 37%, reaching US$12.3 million, however, export of bivalves in the fourth quarter recovered with a growth of 6.3%, of which two main consumer markets (Italy and Spain) all gained strongly imported from Vietnam (Spain grown by 23% and Italy grew by 37%). However, exports to Portugal continued to plunged by 23%.
Vietnam exported frozen whole white and brown clams (code HS 16055600) with prices ranging from US$1.4 - 2 / kg to Spain and Portugal markets. In addition to these two types of clam, Vietnam also exported clam to the Italian market with prices ranging from US$3.5 to 4/kg. These products were mainly exported from enterprises in Thanh Hoa, Tien Giang and Ben Tre.
Exports decreased continuously in the first 3 quarters of the year, so despite recovering in the fourth quarter, the export value to EU market in 2018 still reduced by 20% compared to the previous year, reaching nearly US$56 million. Export to Portugal decreased by 18%, to Spain by 19% and Italy by 26%.
The bivalve mollusks products are increasingly popular in the world market, especially for the younger generation, because it is cheap, nutritious, easy to process and has less impact on the environment. Therefore, it is expected that demand will go up.
Market demand is still high, however, supply and quality of this clam in Viet Nam is not stable, so it is difficult to predict for sure that export may increase or fall in the future.