(seafood.vasep.com.vn) According to Vietnam customs statistics, Vietnam seafood exports to ASEAN reached US$499.2 million last year, increase of more than 10% than 2014. Vietnam’s seafood exports to ASEAN markets jumped last year but slid in other markets including the United States, the European Union (EU) and Japan.
Vietnam got US$6.57 billion from seafood exports in 2015, dropping over 16% year-on-year as outbound sales from the U.S., the EU, Japan and other markets declined.
Particularly, seafood revenue from the U.S. fell by over 24% to US$1.32 billion, the EU by nearly 18% to almost US$1.2 billion, and Japan by nearly 14% to over US$1 billion.
Enterprises also had difficulty scaling up shipments to South Korea, Taiwan and China, which were expected to buy more Vietnamese seafood.
However, 2015 was a favorable year for local seafood firms to sell products to ASEAN markets. The increase is expected to continue this year, with pangasius and tuna being the main export earners. ASEAN was Vietnam’s third biggest importer of tuna last year, accounting for 7.8% of total Vietnam seafood exports.
Other seafood products exported to ASEAN were fish paste and surimi, with combined revenue up nearly 18% year-on-year to more than US$78 million.
Data of the General Department of Customs showed Vietnamese white-leg shrimp was the only product facing competition from other ASEAN countries. So there are opportunities for local firms to step up exports of pangasius, tuna, fish paste and surimi to the ASEAN market with nearly 600 million consumers.