Seafood exports this year is expected to exceed last year

In November 2020, seafood exports continue to grow sharply. Businesses expect that they will continue to increase, bringing the whole year’s turnover to about US$8.6 billion, exceeding las year.

After falling continuously in the first half of the year due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, seafood exports started to bounce back from July and witnessed double-digit growth since September, and saw positive signs since August resulting from the stable growth of shrimp exports and other aquatic products.

After increasing by 10% in September and 12% in October, reaching a record of US$919 million, seafood exports in November 2020 surged 13% year-on-year, reaching US$868 million. Thanks to the recovery in the last three months, seafood exports by the end of November hit US$7.8 billion and forecasted to reach US$8.58 billion for the whole of 2020.

Among exported aquatic products, shrimp is the key product with double-digit growth since June and sharply increased by 25% in September and October, and increased by 28% to US$395 million. By the end of November 2020, shrimp exports reached US$3.5 billion, increasing by 14% year-on-year. Shrimp exports in 2020 are expected to reach over US$3.85 billion, up 15% year-on-year.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the consumption trend in markets still focuses on white leg shrimp, small size for the retail segment. Therefore, white leg shrimp exports account for 72% of shrimp export value this year, and are estimated at nearly US$3 billion in 2020, while tiger shrimp is only US$616 million, accounting for 16% and marine shrimp 12% reaching US$462 million.

Pangasius exports from March to September decreased of 17-35% year-on-year. From October, Pangasius export prices improved, export turnover sharply increased over the previous months, and the decline was 5% year-on-year, it decreased slightly by 4% in November, reaching US$168 million. By the end of November, pangasius export reached US$1.34 billion, down 24%. Pangasius export for the whole year is estimated to reach about US$1.54 billion, falling 23% year-on-year.

Export turnover of seafood products decreased sharply in March and May (down 47% and 20%, respectively), and showed positive growth since August.

After surging by 15% in September, export turnover increased by 2% in October and 8% in November, reaching US$305 million. By the end of November, export turnover of seaport products was US$2.9 billion, slightly decreasing by 1.2% year-on-year. It is estimated that the export turnover of 2020 will reachUS$3.2 billion.

Among the exported seafood products, export turnover of tuna, squid, and octopus all reported good signs since September. In which, tuna export grew 5-15% in the past three months after falling continuously at 23-32% in the previous five months. Particularly in November, tuna exports increased 6% to US$63 million, bringing 11-month export turnover to US$605 million, dropping 9% year-on-year. Tuna export for the whole year 2020 is estimated to reach about US$720 million, falling nearly 8%.

Export turnover of squid and octopus increased from 9% to 22% in the past four months, of which increased by 9% to US$57 million in November, bringing the export turnover in the 11 months to US$510 million, falling 3.5% year-on-year. Export turnover of tuna is estimated at US$565 million, declining by 2% year-on-year.

Export turnover of marine fish excluding tuna increased by 8% in November, reaching US$154 million, bringing export turnover in 11 months to US$1.53 billion, an increase of 1% year-on-year. Export turnover of marine fish in 2020 reached US$1.68 billion, an increase of 1% year-on-year.

In the top major export markets, the US, EU and China had positive growth of 25%, 30% and 15%, respectively in November. Exports to the US since June saw a sharp increase. Accumulated by the end of November, fishery exports to this market reached over US$1.5 billion, up 11% year-on-year. Fishery exports to the US for the whole year are estimated at US$1.65 billion, up 12% year-on-year.

Seafood exports to China in November soared by 19% after surging 27% and 16% in September and October. Exports to China in the first 11 months of 2020 reached US$1.3 billion, increasing by 3.4%, and export turnover of the whole year is estimated at US$1.48 billion. This market tightens the control seafood export products due to fear of Covid-19, so the rise in exports to China is forecast to be lower in the coming months.

VFM