(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Vietnam cephalopod exports in the first 7 months of this year continued the downward trend over the same period last year. Exports to top 4 leading cephalopod importers of Vietnam showed the decline. South Korea and Japan remained to rank the 1st and the 2nd out of top largest importers, while the EU outstripped Asean to rank the 3rd this year and Asean ranked the 4th.
These were driven by the shortage of raw materials for processing and partly because the purchasing power in markets was not high.
According to data from the General Department of Vietnam Customs, Vietnam cephalopod exports in Jan-Jul 2016 reached US$218.5 million, down 7.3% compared to the same period in 2015. Of that, exports to South Korea touched US$81.22 million, accounting for 37.2%, those to Japan achieved US$55.06 million, taking up 25.2%.
In the period, Chinese exports of smoked/salted/dried/frozen cuttlefish and squid showed the growth. The export price of these items this year was higher than the same period of the last 2 years. Thailand stayed as the leading importer of smoked/salted/dried/frozen cuttlefish and squid from China, followed by the Philippines. However, the export price of Chinese processed cuttlefish and squid this year quoted at lower prices than last year. In general, the average export price of Chinese items tended to decline from the beginning of this year and rose up in late May. Japan, the U.S. and South Korea were the top 3 importers of its processed cuttlefish and squid.
In Jan-Jul 2016, Vietnam squid exports totaled US$123.79 million, making up 56.7%. In particular, exports of live/fresh/frozen squid (HS code 03) reached the highest export value, followed by dry/grilled squid (HS code 03). Exports of other processed squid (HS code 16) in the first 7 months of this year gained US$7.35 million.
Vietnam octopus exports in the first 7 months of this year valued at US$94.706 million, of which, exports of processed octopus (HS code 16) hit US$20.15 million, and those of dried/salted/live/fresh/frozen octopus (HS code 03) were US$74.54 million. Vietnam exports of octopus accounted for 43.3% of total cephalopod exports, down slightly from 44.56% in the same period of 2015.
Written by Ngoc Thuy
Compiled by Dieu Thuy