(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In the first quarter of 2019, Vietnam's bivalve mollusk exports increased slightly by 0.6% mainly due to sharp increase in exports in January, but from February to the end of June, exports declined continously. Export of bivalve mollusk has reversed to go up in July 2019. In the first 7 months of 2019, exports of this commodity reached nearly US$52 million, up slightly 0.24% over the same period in 2018.
By the end of July 2019, Vietnam exported bivalve mollusk to 55 markets, much more importers than 2018 with 45 markets. The EU, Japan and the US were the three largest importers, accounting for 90% of Vietnam's bivalve mollusk exports, of which the EU accounted for 66% (compared to 64%in 2018), both Japan and the US made up for 12%.
In July 2019, bivalve mollusk exports to 3 main markets simultaneously witnessed double-digit growth, so the total export of this item in July 2019 rose by 42%. Bivalve mollusk exports to Japan achieved the strongest growth of 63%, exports to the US and EU increased by 48% and 32% respectively.
In the first 7 months of the year, exports of bivalve mollusk to 3 main markets all showed positive growth thanks to strong growth in July. Export of this product to the EU increased by 1.7% to reach US$33.6 million. Spain, Portugal and Italy were the 3 main importers of Vietnam's bivalve mollusk in the EU. As of July 2019, exports of bivalve mollusk to Spain went up by 14%, exports to Portugal and Italy slid by 7.9% and 1.9% compared to the same period in 2018 respectively. While, export to Japan and the US in the first 7 months of this year climbed by 42% and 6.5% respectively.
Demand for bivalve mollusk in the international market is still good, more and more consumers are in favour of this product. The production of farmed bivalve mollusk is increasing thanks to the adoption of new farming technology such as offshore culture. Unlike, other types of seafood, bivalve mollusk is mainly consumed in the domestic market, so the volume of trade in the international market is still limited. However, the trend is likely to change when the product is processed into new added value goods.
Therefore, it is expected that prices of bivalve mollusk might remain high and continue to rise in markets. Among bivalve mollusk, clam usually has the highest price because of lower output than other species. China almost dominated this product segment, mainly exports to Japan and South Korea. It is difficult for Vietnamese clam to compete with that of China due to low production and being unstable.
Vietnam currently exports mainly frozen clam and brown clam products to EU and US markets. Frozen boiled clams are exported to Spain with prices ranging from US$1.3 to US$1.9/kg, C&F; Frozen sliced clam meat exported to Japan costs about US$2/kg, C&F.