(vasep.com.vn) In the first four months of 2012, Thailand squid exporters faced lack of raw material because domestic catch volume failed to meet the demand.
With advantages in low import duty, high capacity of cold storage system, lower input costs compared to regional countries, Thailand attracted a lot suppliers of raw material from Vietnam, Peru, Iran, China, Morocco, Myanmar...
According to Thailand Customs, in the first four months of 2012, Thailand imported over 11,300 MT squid in all varieties, worth over US$26.4 million. In which there were 9,000 MT frozen squid; 1,300 MT salted, dried squid and the other were chilled squid products with average import price US$2.33 per kilogram. In the first five months, Thailand imported a large amount of octopus (HS 030759) from Peru, Chile, Senegal, Indonesia, and China with the value of US$2 million.
While Vietnam cephalopod exports to EU were dull, exports of this item from Thailand revealed a stable growth. Since the early year, exports of Thailand squid (HS 030749) to three main markets (Japan, Italy, and the U.S.) kept a positive growth.
Thailand Customs informed that in the first four months of 2012, exports reported over 12,000 MT of different types of squid, worth nearly US$77.5 million with the average export price of US$6.45 per kilogram. Main destinations of Thailand squid are Taiwan, Italy and Japan.
In April 2012, Thailand exported over 3,000 MT of squid in all varieties, valued at US$19.9 million. These figures were down 5% in volume and 9% in FOB value on those of March 2012. The average export price was US$6.28 per kilogram, FOB. From 2007 to 2011, key export mollusk items of Thailand to Japan were frozen, dried, salted or in brine, smoked squid products (HS 030749).
In 2011, Japan accounted for over 40 percent of total export of squid from Thailand, followed by Italy with 28 percent, the U.S. with 5.7 percent and Vietnam with 3.3 percent. In the first five months of this year, Japan remained the proportion of 40 percent among total Thai squid exports, Italy with nearly 30 percent, the U.S. with 7 percent. Exports to some EU markets, particularly Italy showed good figures.
Till the end of May 2012, South Korea is the largest importer of squid (HS 030759) from Thailand with the proportion of 37 percent out of total exports, followed by Japan with 29 percent, over 11 percent for the U.S. and the same number for Australia.From 2007 to 2011, shipment of Thailand octopus (HS 030759) to Italy marked a large proportion of 25-51 percent among total exports.
However, in 2011, exports to the market reduced to 10 percent while exports to other markets of EU (Germany, Belgium, Sweden) were stable.