The main seafood products exported to the Middle East market include pangasius, accounting for 44%, tuna accounting for nearly 30%, shrimp accounting for 16%, other marine fish and octopus accounted for 10%.
Notably, pangasius is also the item with the highest export value to the Middle East and the strongest increase in the past 11 months, with nearly 127 million USD, up 66% over the same period last year. This market accounts for nearly 6% of Vietnam's pangasius exports in 2022.
Frozen pangasius fillets with HS code 0304 accounted for 91% of pangasius export value to Middle East countries, frozen whole pangasius with HS code 03 accounted for 8%, the remaining nearly 1% was processed pangasius.
The top 3 markets in the Middle East region, importing the most Vietnamese pangasius include Egypt, UAE and Saudi Arabia. The biggest increase was Saudi Arabia with over 19 million USD, up 165% in the first 11 months of the year. Pangasius exports to Egypt and the UAE increased by 35% and 30% respectively over the same period last year, reaching $35 million and $29 million.
In 2022, the Russia-Ukraine war, the limited oil supply from Russia is an opportunity for Middle Eastern countries to make profits, so the region's economy is still growing optimistically and growing higher than 2021. Although also suffering from high inflation, in general, the food consumption demand of Middle Eastern countries will not be affected as badly as other markets. That is a good sign for Vietnamese seafood enterprises to promote exports to the Middle East.
Economists forecast that the Middle East region's economy in 2023 will slow down, because oil prices and the oil market are more optimistic than this year. Therefore, the general trend of markets, including Middle Eastern countries, is not to be as active as the first half of 2022.
However, for pangasius exporters, Middle East countries are still a very promising destination next year because demand is forecasted to be more stable than other markets.
Compiled by Thuy Linh
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