Seafood exports from Vietnam continued to fall in June due to the impacts of the coronavirus outbreak in its major markets, according to Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).
In the month, Vietnam exported seafood products worth USD 626.3 million (EUR 554.2 million), down 10 percent from a year ago.
Of the total amount, shrimp accounted for USD 305.2 million (EUR 270 million), up 4 percent year-on-year, including USD 227.7 million (EUR 201.5 million) of vannamei exports (up 8 percent year-on-year) and USD 46.8 million (EUR 41.4 million) of black tiger shrimp (down 15 percent from June 2019).
The export value of pangasius in June fell sharply at 40 percent year-on-year to USD 103 million (EUR 91 million), followed by the sales of tuna at USD 50.3 million (EUR 44.5 million), down 25 percent year-on-year.
In the first six months of 2020, Vietnam exported seafood worth USD 3.5 billion (EUR 3.1 billion), 10.5 percent lower than the same period last year.
Shrimp was the only product that saw a growth in exports from the same period in 2019, with its export value increasing 2.6 percent year-on-year to USD 1.48 billion (EUR 1.3 billion). The export value of vannamei was USD 1.04 billion (EUR 920 million), up 8.4 percent year-on-year, while the sales value of the black tiger shrimp declined 16.1 percent to USD 272.5 million (EUR 241 million) from January through June.
The export value of pangasius in the first half shrank 31.5 percent year-on-year to USD 659.1 million (EUR 583.3 million), followed by tuna with USD 291.3 million (EUR 257.8 million), down 20.5 percent from a year earlier.
VASEP said the value of its seafood exports in the period fell the most in in the European Union at negative 35 percent, followed by Southeast Asia at negative 17 percent, South Korea at 9 percent lower than last year, the United States with negative 6 percent, Japan with negative 5 percent, and China with negative 3 percent.
Vietnam’s seafood exports are unlikely to rise in the next few months, as the COVID-19 outbreak has not been contained in its key markets, VASEP said.
Photo courtesy of VASEP
