Vietnam's squid and octopus export value surged in August as sales rose to all of the country's key markets except Japan, Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said 25 September.
The sales in August rose 22 percent year-on-year to USD 53.7 million (EUR 46 million). However, lower sales values in the previous months resulted in a year-on-year decline of 10.5 percent in value, at USD 345 million (EUR 296 million), in the first eight months of this year.
South Korea was the top destination for squid and octopus from Vietnam in terms of value in August, with sales reaching USD 20.7 million (EUR 17.8 million) in the month, up 30.8 percent from a year earlier. Although the export value to this market recorded a growth in three months in a row beginning in June, sales to South Korea still fell 6.3 percent year-on-year to USD 143.5 million (EUR 123 million) between January and August, VASEP said, attributing the drop to lower demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, sales to Japan fell in August, marking the fourth consecutive month of downturns in Vietnam's cephalopod sales to Japan. In the first eight months, Vietnam exported squid and octopus worth USD 79.5 million (EUR 68.2 million), down 19 percent from the same period last year.
The export value of squid and octopus to the European Union contracted from March to July, which VASEP said was caused by the “yellow card” imposed by the European Commission from 2017 and negative impacts from the pandemic. Sales only grew in August with a year-on-year increase of 10 percent to USD 5.8 million (EUR 5 million). Notably, the value of the exports to France soared 101 percent year-on-year to USD 700,000 (EUR 600,000) in the month. The European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), which entered into force from the beginning of August, is expected to help boost shipments of squid and octopus from Vietnam to the bloc in the remaining months of this year, VASEP said.
The export value to China, the fifth-largest buyer of squid and octopus from Vietnam, surged 28.4 percent year-on-year to USD 4.5 million (EUR 3.9 million) in August, making it the market with the best sales growth this year. Exports to China were worth USD 26.6 million (EUR 22.8 million) in the first eight months, jumping 52.9 percent from January-August 2019.
Photo courtesy of Igor Kononykhin/Shutterstock
