After remaining the USD 1 billion worth constantly from March to June, Vietnam’s seafood exports fell down to under USD 1 billion in July and continued to reduce in August with USD 917 million revenue, down 3% as compared to the value in July.
Seafood exports were 54% higher than the same period last year. However, this growth did not promote optimism because last August was in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic in the Mekong Delta.
Shrimp exports fell down from the peak of USD 456 million in May to USD 356 million in August, 26% higher than the same period last year. Meanwhile, exports of white leg shrimps reached USD 285 million, up 32%, exports of black tiger shrimps reached USD 47 million, down nearly 7%. Exports of lobsters continued to increase by 163% in August and the accumulated value of the first eight months of the year was five times as much as the same period last year.
The accumulated value of shrimp exports reached USD 3 billion, up 22.5% from the same period last year. Meanwhile, the export value of white leg shrimps accounted for 76%, valued at USD 2.2 billion, up 20%, and exports of black tiger shrimps reached USD 411 million, up nearly 10%.
The production of shrimp materials faces difficulties due to high cost and unfavorable weather conditions while the demand in major markets is slowing down due to a large number of stockpiles. These factors together with impacts of the inflation have dragged shrimp exports to the two major markets, the US and China, into a drastic reduction in July. Shrimp exports in the US declined by 33% in August, while exports to China decreased by 13%. The accumulated value of shrimps to the US in the first eight months of 2022 reduced by nearly 10% as compared to the same period last year.
Meanwhile, pangasius exports were stable with value reaching over USD 187 million in August, up 114% from the same period last year and slightly up from July 2022. Even though the average export price of pangasius to markets slightly declined as compared to previous months, pangasius is still considered a good choice by most of the markets amidst the inflation peak. The accumulated value of exported pangasius in the first eight months reached nearly USD 1.8 billion, up 81% from the same period last year. Except for Russia, noticeable sales of pangasius were recorded in most of the markets in March and April with 2-3 digit growth. Meanwhile, export value of pangasius to China grew more than twice as much as the same period last year, reaching USD 500 million, accounting for 29%; exports to the US accounted for 25% with USD 428 million worth, up 90%.
After reaching over USD 100 million in March and April, tuna exports decreased in the following months. In August, tuna exports reached USD 85 million, but just equal to the revenue of July regardless of a 74% increase as compared to the same month last year. As of August 2022, tuna exports reached nearly USD 734 million, up 54% from the same period last year.
Exports of cuttlefish and octopus increased by 60% in August, reaching USD 66 million, leaving the accumulated value of the first eight months of nearly USD 480 million. In August, the revenue of mollusks decreased by 9% from the same period last year.
VFM
