The spread of the coronavirus has continued to impact trading of seafood products in Vietnam, causing sales of tuna, crab, and lobster to decline.
Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said 13 February it fears that exports of tuna to China will continue to be disrupted because of the coronavirus outbreak in China and Vietnam. Cargoes to China have been delayed in recent weeks, resulting in more stockpiles and mounting costs for exporters.
Vietnam exported tuna worth nearly USD 15 million (EUR 13.8 million) to China in 2019, up 4 percent from 2018.
China was also the fourth-largest supplier of tuna material for Vietnam last year, accounting for 7 percent of Vietnam’s total imports of tuna material.
VASEP said China is one of the leading suppliers of tuna in the world, sporting a fleet of nearly 300 fishing vessels. The spread of the deadly virus is likely to affect its fishing operations and thus disrupt the supply of tuna material to Vietnamese processors.
The coronavirus epidemic has also caused prices of crab in Vietnam’s southern province of Ca Mau to fall sharply. Ca Mau exports most of its crab output to China. But as the outbreak was getting worse, the price of crab in the Nam Can District in the province dropped more than half to around VND 300,000 (USD 12.80, EUR 11.80) per kilogram, Zing News reported 8 February. Nam Can is one of the main crab producing districts in Ca Mau, with an output of around 6,000 metric tons (MT) in 2019.
Farmers of lobsters in the Khanh Hoa Province in central Vietnam are also worried about the impacts caused by the coronavirus. Prices of lobster raised in Van Phong Bay in Khanh Hoa have fallen to about VND 600,000 (USD 25.70, EUR 23.60) per kilogram from around VND 1.5 million (USD 64.20, EUR 58.90) per kilogram previously, according to Vietnam Fisheries Magazine on February 7.
Exports of shrimp and pangasius, the top two seafood species exported to China, are also likely to slow down in the first months of this year due to fallout from the coronavirus outbreak, SeafoodSource previously reported.
Vietnam exported seafood worth USD 1.23 billion (EUR 1.11 billion) to China last year, up 23 percent from 2018. In 2019, China became the largest buyer of its pangasius, and it was also a top importer of Vietnamese shrimp.
Photo courtesy of M.lim/Shutterstock
