Vietnam achieved $870 million from exporting seafood in May, marking an increase of over 7% compared to the same period last year. Notably, tuna, crabs, and swimming crabs continued to make significant strides.
According to VASEP, the country’s seafood exports were estimated at $870 million in May, up more than 7% y-o-y. Tuna, crab and swimming crab exports continued to surge significantly, while exports of pangasius, squid, and octopus saw a slight increase. However, shrimp exports were slightly lower compared to the same period last year.
Thus, Vietnam’s cumulative value of seafood exports reached $3.6 billion over the first five months of the year, a 6.5% y-o-y increase. Specifically, tuna exports rose by 36% in May, reaching over $95 million. Among these, canned tuna products increased by 18%, packed tuna increased by more than 3.5 times, frozen tuna loin/fillet increased by 25%, and whole frozen tuna increased by more than 7 times compared to May 2023. Cumulatively until the end of May, tuna exports reached nearly $397 million, up 25% compared to the same period in 2023.
In May, exports of crabs and swimming crabs increased by nearly 92%, achieving over $26 million. Cumulatively for the first five months, crab and swimming crab exports reached $101 million, an 84% increase, mainly due to crab products doubling compared to the same period last year.
The largest markets, China and Japan, both increased their imports of Vietnamese crabs. China is the largest importer of live crabs, with imports increasing 11 times y-o-y. Japan mainly imports processed snow crab products: snow crab meat, shelled snow crab, snow crab claws, and a small portion of ground freshwater crab from Vietnam.
Pangasius exports increased by 10%, and squid, octopus, and other fish species exports all saw a slight increase of 3% in May. Cumulatively for the first five months, pangasius exports brought in nearly $755 million, a slight 3% increase compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, marine fish exports decreased by 3%, reaching $742 million, and squid and octopus exports reached $236 million, a nearly 2% y-o-y.
In May, shrimp exports declined by 1.5%, reaching $326 million. However, the cumulative value of the first five months maintained positive growth of 7% with $1.3 billion worth.
Although there hasn’t been a significant breakthrough, major markets have shown gradual recovery signals in both demand and import prices. Accordingly, seafood exports to the US, Japan, the EU, and South Korea all experienced positive growth in May, with increases ranging from 5% to 26%, while exports to China decreased by 8% compared to the same period last year.
By the end of May, the US had remained the largest importer of Vietnamese seafood with a 13% growth rate, achieving $635 million. Exports to Japan, China, South Korea, and the EU saw modest growth of 3-4% compared to the same period in 2023.
VFM
