Vietnam’s fresh and live seafood has a lot of room for growth in the Chinese market

The positive signals for the shrimp industry seem to be more focused on lobster products with sales upsurging from $46.6 million in the first half of 2023 to $126.7 million this year, an increase of 171%. 98% of this sales revenue came from live rock lobster (green lobster) products, and the main market was China.

Crab and swimming crab exports in the first half of this year saw the strongest breakthrough among the major products, increasing by 75% to reach $125 million. Of this, crab exports increased by nearly double to almost $93 million, and swimming crab exports increased by 33% to over $31 million. Specifically, live crab products exported brought in $54 million in revenue, nearly 8 times higher than the same period last year. China was also the main consumer market for Vietnam's live crab products. 

In the overall picture of exports to the Chinese market in the first half of the year, fresh and live products were the highlights, contributing to the increase in seafood export value to this market. Accordingly, in the first 6 months of this year, seafood exports to China reached nearly $690 million, an increase of 8.4%. Of this, pangasius still accounted for the largest proportion, accounting for 35% with over $243 million, down 7.4% compared to the same period last year.

The second largest export item to the Chinese market in the first half of this year was lobster, with nearly $122 million, an increase of 174% and accounting for nearly 18% of the total seafood export value to this market. Exports of white-leg shrimp to China also decreased by 10% to only $117 million. Exports of giant tiger prawns also decreased by nearly 30% to $38.5 million.

Aside from shrimp and pangasius, many other marine finfish species exported to China also witnessed a decline in export value in the first 6 months of this year. Meanwhile, being one of the top 4 highest-value export items, live crab exports to China increased 12-fold, reaching $49 million.

Frozen seafood exports to China in the first half of the year were mostly down compared to the same period, due to lower prices, while live seafood products had better room for growth.

Besides lobster and live crab, there were also strong increases in live clams (mainly razor clams and flower clams) and live sea snails, up 280% and 282% respectively compared to the same period last year.

The frozen shrimp market in China is currently in a state of oversupply, as products from Ecuador are flooding the market and domestic farming output has reached high levels. In the first half of this year, China imported 436,000 tons of shrimp, with shrimp originating from Ecuador alone accounting for 330,000 tons, or 75% of the total.

Meanwhile, China's demand for salmon and lobster is expected to continue growing. As the world's leading consumer of seafood, Chinese consumers are increasingly preferring high-quality and value-added seafood products. There has been a shift from purchasing live seafood at traditional markets to buying live seafood through e-commerce channels. Among these, shrimp is the most popular seafood product purchased online by Chinese consumers.

Although the situation has gradually improved - with inflation and inventories both declining - the lingering effects are still impacting demand in import markets. Vietnamese seafood exports to major markets are facing price competition from other supplying countries, so the average export prices of key products like shrimp and tra fish remain low compared to 2023 and previous years.

As a result, total seafood exports in the first 6 months are recovering, but only saw a strong breakthrough in January (+64.5%), with modest increases in the following months.

For the second half of the year, Vietnam's seafood exports are forecast to return to a normal trajectory as before the COVID-19 period. Exports will increase compared to the first half, with orders expected to surge in Q3 to serve the year-end holiday season in the markets.