(vasep.com.vn) According to Vietnam Customs, in the first 5 months of 2013, Vietnam’s exports of crab and swimming crab reached US$27.7 million, down 21.6 percent on that reported in the same time of 2012. The figure in May 2013 was US$5.1 million, down 41.3 percent on that of May 2012.
In the Jan-May period of 2013, Vietnam’s crab exports to major markets posted a remarkable reduction of 4.5 percent – 48.3 percent, however, exports to the Netherlands, China and Canada increased 553.5 percent, 27 percent and 35.6 percent, respectively on those of a year earlier. In the early months of this year Dutch market attracted, mostly, Vietnam’s crab exporters because crab exports to the market, at that time, enjoyed a three-four digit increase.
As of May 2013, Vietnam crab exports to China were improved in times of low demand from other major markets. In Jan-May 2013, crab exports to China reached over US$3 million, up 27 percent on that of the past year in which export value in Jan, Feb, Apr and May rose from 1.1 percent to 220.8 percent but exports in Mar slid 12.7 percent.
Crab exports to large markets (the U.S., EU and Japan) dragged down due to regional economic stagnation. Through May 2013, crab exports to the U.S. plunged for 5 months in a row, with a deep dive of 21.1 percent - 57.6 percent. Exports to EU and Japan also slowed down since Feb 2013.
In Jan-May 2013, Canada was put into top 10 main markets of Vietnam crab despite reporting a modest import value of US$407 thousand. In the past, crab exports to Canada only made up a small proportion in total export value. Since Apr 2013, crab exports to the market surprisingly saw a five-digit increase compared to the same period of 2012 and exports in May posted a three-digit increase of 706.5 percent. The satisfactory figures in crab exports to Canada help Vietnam exporters expand their consumer markets, changing the way to access to markets, especially to small but potential markets.