(seafood.vasep.com.vn) While major markets such as the US and EU reopened and sharply increased seafood imports from Vietnam, China has increasingly tightened inspection of frozen seafood imports from other countries related to the Covid-19 pandemic, Vietnam's seafood exports to this market have decreased continuously in the past 2 months. Therefore, seafood exports to China in the first 5 months of 2021 decreased by 6%, reaching US$405 million.
By the end of May, Vietnam's shrimp exports to China decreased by 19% to 137 million USD, accounting for 34% of seafood export value to this market. Pangasius surpassed shrimp, accounting for 41% to reach 165.5 million USD, a slight increase of 2%. Exports of marine fish decreased by 5% to nearly $70 million and accounted for 17% of total seafood exports.
The impact of the Covid pandemic and China's move have created two clear trends in Vietnam's seafood exports to this market: the turnover of fresh/frozen products dropped sharply, the export of dried and processed goods. increase.
Accordingly, the export of fresh/live/frozen black tiger shrimp decreased by 25% in May and 26% in the first 5 months of the year to US$46 million, while processed black tiger shrimp increased by 278% to US$1.4 million.
Vietnam's frozen vannamei exports to China in the first five months of the year increased 2% to $67 million, while exports of processed vannamei increased by 173% to over $6 million. Vannamei shrimp accounted for 54% of total shrimp exports.
Vietnam's marine shrimp exports to China in the first 5 months of 2020 accounted for 22% of shrimp exports, this year only accounted for 11% with $ 15.6 million, down 58%, because frozen shrimp exports decreased by 85%. In return, the export of dried shrimp increased nearly 6 times, processed shrimp increased by 67%.
For pangasius, exports of frozen fillets decreased by 12% in the first 5 months of the year, reaching 118 million USD, frozen whole pangasius increased sharply by 78% to nearly 47 million USD.
For other types of marine fish for export (except tuna), dried fish is the most popular product line, accounting for 50% of the export turnover of marine fish with 35 million USD in the first 5 months of this year, an increase of nearly 6%. However, in May, the export of dried fish to China decreased by 48%. Other processed fish products increased by 53%, while exports of fresh frozen fish decreased by 42%.
Exports of fish cakes and surimi products also increased sharply by 43% in May and the first 5 months of the year reaching 23 million USD, up 13%.