Seafood production in Vietnam increased 5.8 percent year-on-year to an estimated 3.78 million metric tons (MT) in the first six months of this year, according to data from the country’s General Statistics Office released Friday, 28 June.
Of that total, the output from aquaculture in the period was estimated at 1.92 million MT, up 6.7 percent by volume, while wild-catch fisheries contributed an estimated 1.86 million MT, 5 percent higher year-on-year.
The output of pangasius, one of Vietnam’s core farmed species, rose 7.7 percent year-on year to an estimated 643,800 MT in the first six months, with main production coming from Dong Thap Province (204,900 MT, up 6.6 percent year-on-year), An Giang Province (175,400 MT, 13 percent year-on-year), and Can Tho City (87,900 MT, up 7.6 percent) in the Mekong Delta.
“The production and sales of pangasius in the first quarter were better than in the second quarter because the prices in the early months of the year were higher,” the GSO said.
Pangasius prices have declined in recent months due to lower demand. According to a report from Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade, the farm-gate prices in An Giang in the week ending 19 June fell 32 percent year-on-year to around VND 21,000 (USD 0.9, EUR 0.8) per kilogram.
The production of giant tiger shrimp in the first half was estimated at 119,400 MT, up 7.5 percent from 2018, and the output of whiteleg shrimp stood at estimated 177,000 MT, up 10.7 percent.
In 2019, the country plans to achieve seafood output of 8.08 million MT, up 4.2 percent year-on-year, including 4.38 million MT of farmed species – 5.6 percent higher than 2018 – and 3.7 million MT of wild-caught seafood, up 2.6 percent year-on-year.
Vietnam’s seafood exports were worth USD 3.18 billion (EUR 2.79 billion) between January and May, slightly down 0.7 percent from the same period in 2018. Major buyers of Vietnam seafood in the period included Japan, with USD 553.3 million (EUR 486.3 million) worth of purchases, up 11.6 percent; the United States, buying USD 509.7 million (EUR 447.9 million) of Vietnamese seafood, up 3.8 percent; China at USD 381.8 million (EUR 335.5 million), up 3.95 percent; South Korea at USD 308.8 million (EUR 271.3 million), down 1.4 percent; and the United Kingdom at USD 101.6 million (EUR 89.3 million), up 0.5 percent, according to customs data.
Vietnam has set a target of reaping USD 10.5 billion (EUR 9.24 billion) from exports of its seafood products in 2019, up 19.5 percent from last year.
