China sharply increased imports of cephalopod from Vietnam in January 2024

In the structure of exported cephalopod, squid and cuttlefish account for 57% of export value, reaching 35 million USD; Octopus accounted for 43% reaching 27 million USD.

Cephalopod exports to the largest import market, South Korea, increased by 67% to 26 million USD. Japan's nuclear waste water discharge reduced Korea's demand for seafood imports from Japan. Korea did not issue a ban on importing seafood from Japan but increased inspection of goods from Japan. Besides, China is the largest supplier of cephalopod to Korea. China's ban on seafood imports from Japan also caused the supply of cephalopod from China to markets such as Korea to decrease due to a shortage of processing materials. It is expected that Vietnam's cephalopod exports to Korea will continue to grow positively in the first quarter of 2024 when the ban on importing Japanese seafood into China has not yet been lifted.

According to data from the World Trade Center (ITC), in January this year, Korea's imports of cephalopod from supply sources also recorded an increase of 5%, reaching 91 million USD. Vietnam is the second largest supplier of cephalopod to Korea, after China.

Cephalopod exports to Japan (Vietnam's second largest cephalopod import market) recorded a lower growth rate than the Korean market, increasing by 19% to reach 13 million USD. The nuclear waste water discharge has a negative impact on Japan's overall seafood import and export. After the nuclear wastewater discharge, Japan's imports of cephalopod from Vietnam decreased significantly.

China & HK are the third largest import markets for cephalopod in Vietnam. Cephalopod exports to this market in January this year grew impressively by 3 digits with 151% reaching 7 million USD. China's ban on seafood imports from Japan after Japan's nuclear waste water discharge into the sea has caused China to increase imports from other sources, including Vietnam. In addition, this market increased imports of cephalopod from Vietnam in January this year to serve the consumption needs of the Lunar New Year.

Contrary to the growth trend of exports to other markets, Vietnam's cephalopod exports to the EU in January this year still could not escape negative growth. The EU is also the only market among the main markets importing cephalopod from Vietnam, recording negative growth. Vietnam's cephalopod exports to this market decreased by 17% to nearly 4 million USD in the first month of this year. Exporting cephalopod to the EU is still affected by the IUU yellow card, many new regulations, procedures for making certification and certification for export to this market are still inadequate, and people tend to tighten spending. due to inflation.

Cephalopod export enterprises continue to face many difficulties in raw material sources, increased input costs for production, and weak consumption demand. Geopolitical conflicts in the world and Red Sea tensions continue to be challenges for Vietnam's cephalopod exports in 2024. The world economy has bottomed out with expectations of recovery this year. , Vietnam's cephalopod exports in 2024 are expected to reach about 700 million USD, an increase of 6% compared to 2023.