Marine fish, tuna, shrimp, squid and octopus were the most imported products in terms of value. Taiwan remained Vietnam’s biggest supplier of ocean tuna and other marine fish like eel, frozen whole halfbeak, shark, and headless swordfish.
In the first quarter, Vietnamese enterprises continued to purchase trout from Norway, including fresh, whole, chilled fish with size of 5 – 6 kilogram and 6 – 7 kilogram; ordinary gutted fish with size of 6 – 7 kilogram; smoked sliced fish of 10 kilogram/box. Vietnam also bought other marine fish species such as flounder, snapper fillets and pollock from South Korea to process for supply contract with foreign partners.
Thailand, India and Indonesia were Vietnam companies’ main suppliers of mollusk species (HS 0307), sardine, mackerel, perch, and grouper. Australia kept exporting live lobster and abalone to Vietnam.
Currently, these above countries are increasingly importing raw material in order to diversify products to export and strengthen competitiveness in international markets. Referring to Thailand Customs’ statistics, in January – February 2013, the country’s imports of frozen fish (excluding fillets and fish meats with HS 0307) soared 50 – 120 percent in value over the same period of the last year. Purchase of mollusk (HS 0307) was up of 5 – 6 percent, fish with HS 0302 up 3 – 10 percent.
In 2012, China and Indonesia have also boosted imports of a large range of fish species for processing and export. Chinese purchase of crustacean (HS 0306) went up of 36.7 percent in value; fish with HS 0302 up 61 percent; fish with HS 0304 up 37 percent; live fish up 120 percent; and fish with HS 0305 up 3.5 percent.
|
Seafood imports by Vietnam, Jan – Mar 2013 |
|||||
|
No. |
Origin |
Value (US$) |
No. |
Origin |
Value (US$) |
|
1 |
Taiwan |
16,265,630 |
13 |
Russia |
2,584,077 |
|
2 |
Japan |
12,566,748 |
14 |
The U.K. |
1,821,263 |
|
3 |
Norway |
12,429,834 |
15 |
Malaysia |
1,807,743 |
|
4 |
India |
12,340,805 |
16 |
Myanmar |
1,125,931 |
|
5 |
Chile |
8,294,946 |
17 |
Canada |
1,080,763 |
|
6 |
Poland |
7,582,743 |
18 |
Singapore |
680,039 |
|
7 |
Thailand |
4,982,570 |
19 |
The Philippines |
328,517 |
|
8 |
South Korea |
4,735,510 |
20 |
The Netherlands |
85,050 |
|
9 |
Indonesia |
4,503,027 |
21 |
Saudi Arabia |
74,808 |
|
10 |
China |
3,843,906 |
Others |
28,815,638 |
|
|
11 |
The U.S. |
3,779,126 |
Total |
133,027,220 |
|
|
12 |
Denmark |
3,298,546 |
|||
|
Seafood imports by the U.S, Jan – Feb 2012/2013, thousand US$ Source: ITC |
|||||
|
HS code |
Products |
2012 |
2013 |
||
|
January |
February |
January |
February |
||
|
0304 |
Fillet/nugget/fresh/chilled/frozen fish |
509,406 |
427,747 |
449,472 |
401,001 |
|
0306 |
Other crustaceans |
439,085 |
333,574 |
401,354 |
319,011 |
|
0302 |
Fresh/chilled fish (excluding fish with HS 0304) |
101,983 |
107,064 |
109,891 |
106,894 |
|
0307 |
Mollusk |
71,468 |
64,229 |
72,427 |
62,130 |
|
0303 |
Frozen fish (excluding fish fillets and other fish meat with HS 0304) |
57,676 |
44,762 |
53,748 |
40,898 |
|
0305 |
Salted/smoked fish and fishmeal ingredients |
24,106 |
24,014 |
20,485 |
22,859 |
|
0301 |
Live fish |
6,051 |
6,018 |
6,095 |
6,258 |
|
0308 |
Live/fresh/chilled aquatic boneless animals and mollusk |
3,233 |
2,418 |
3,637 |
5,005 |
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) The year 2025 marked a pivotal milestone for Vietnam’s seafood industry in its restructuring process toward sustainability, transparency, and higher value creation, amid continued uncertainties in the global economic and trade environment. Prolonged inflation in major economies, the rising trend of trade protectionism, and increasingly stringent requirements related to environmental standards, traceability, and social responsibility have posed significant challenges to seafood production and exports. Nevertheless, overcoming these pressures, Vietnam’s seafood sector has gradually demonstrated its adaptability, maintained growth momentum, and laid an important foundation for the next stage of development.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Amid the increasingly evident impacts of drought and saltwater intrusion, the shrimp-rice production model in Ca Mau province continues to prove itself as a viable direction, contributing to higher farmer incomes, improved soil conditions and the promotion of ecological and sustainable agricultural development.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) The management of fishing vessels, monitoring of fishing activities, and handling of violations in the fisheries sector in Lam Dong province have continued to be implemented in a synchronized and stringent manner, contributing to raising awareness of legal compliance among fishermen and aiming to end illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Can Tho’s fishery industry sustained steady growth in 2025 with total aquatic and marine output reaching nearly 783,000 tons, fulfilling 100% of the annual target. Aquaculture, capture fisheries and fishing fleet management were further strengthened, aiming for sustainable development in the coming years.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In 2025, Vietnam’s pangasius export turnover reached nearly USD 2.2 billion, up 8% year-on-year. This result indicates that pangasius exports maintained their growth momentum despite significant volatility in the global market environment. In December 2025, pangasius export value reached USD 200 million, up 10% compared to December 2024. This solid performance in the final month of the year reflects increased import demand for consumption and inventory replenishment in key markets.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In 2025, Vietnam’s tuna exports to Spain experienced significant fluctuations. According to Vietnam Customs, during the first 11 months of 2025, export turnover for the first 11 months of the year edged up by 0.3% year-on-year, reaching nearly $15 million.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son has signed Decision No. 16/QD-TTg, dated January 5, 2026, approving the implementation plan for the Vietnam-Israel Free Trade Agreement (VIFTA). Under the plan, in the coming period, ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-affiliated entities and People’s Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities must institutionalize and execute tasks focused on the dissemination of information regarding VIFTA and the Israeli market; legislative and institutional development, as well as enhancing competitiveness and human resource growth...
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Beyond achieving double-digit growth, Vietnam’s fish cake and surimi exports are showing a notable year-end "inflection point": the EU his accelerating with nearly twofold growth, China & Hong Kong are rising sharply, while the largest market, South Korea, signaled a slowdown in November. According to Vietnam Customs data, export turnover of fish cake and surimi reached $327 million in the first 11 months of 2025, up 22% year-on-year; November 2025 alone accounted for $35 million, marking a 5% increase. This serves as a critical foundation for exporters to reassess market structures and competitive intensity while finalizing order strategies for 2026.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Ca Mau, widely regarded as the nation’s “shrimp capital”, continued its strong performance in 2025 as shrimp output reached nearly 600,000 tons, maintaining its position as Vietnam’s leading shrimp-producing locality.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) On December 29, 2025, at the 2025 Pangasius Industry Review Conference held in Can Tho City, the Vietnam Pangasius Association announced that fingerling prices have surged to record levels due to acute supply shortages.
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