(seafood.vasep.com.vn) After growing in the first month of the year, Vietnam's cephalopod exports to Japan decreased continuously in February and March, so the total value of squid exports, Vietnam's octopus to this market in the first quarter of 2021 decreased by 17% compared to the same period in 2020, reaching more than 24 million USD. Japan is currently Vietnam's second largest single cephalopod export market, accounting for 21%.
The export value of squid is accounting for a larger proportion (59%) of the total export of squid and octopus to this country. Export of dried/baked squid (HS code 03) to Japan in the first 3 months of the year had an impressive positive growth rate of 512% over the same period in 2020. Vietnam mainly exported products such as squid to Japan frozen sliced squid, pinecone cuttlefish, frozen cuttlefish fillet, frozen nugget squid….
According to data from the World Trade Center (ITC), Japan's cephalopod imports reached more than 25 thousand tons, equivalent to 154 million USD, up 1% in volume and down 10% in value, compared to in the same period of 2020. Japan's imports of cephalopods from major sources all decreased in value compared to the same period in 2020.
Vietnam is the second largest source of cephalopods for Japan, after China, accounting for 11% of the country's total import value. While imports from China and Vietnam are higher, imports from Russia, Thailand and Mauritania are lower.
In the squid segment in Japan, Chinese products are dominating the market, accounting for 64% of the total import value of this market. Meanwhile, Vietnam only accounted for 8% and Thailand accounted for 6%.
According to statistics of Vietnam Customs, the average export price of frozen squid, HS code 03074310 of Vietnam to Japan in the first 3 months of 2021 fluctuated at 10.3 USD/kg, an increase of 66% compared to that of Vietnam. in the same period of 2020. Meanwhile, the average export price of Chinese products to Japan fluctuated at $5.7/kg, down over the same period.