Vietnam's seafood exports surged in March as its sales to many key markets took off, according to the latest customs data.
The Southeast Asian nation shipped seafood worth an estimated USD 735.5 million (EUR 614.3 million) in the month, up 16.8 percent year-on-year, with export values rising in most major markets.
Japan and the Netherlands were the only two markets among top 10 destinations where Vietnam experienced a decline in sales in March.
The U.S. was the largest buyer by value, purchasing USD 146 million (EUR 121.9 million) worth of seafood from Vietnam, up 36.5 percent year-on-year. Japan ranked second with USD 125.1 million (EUR 104.5 million) in purchases, down 2.7 percent from a year earlier. China (excluding Hong Kong) was next with USD 91.7 million (EUR 76.6 million) in purchases, an increase of 12.9 percent year-on-year; and South Korea bought USD 63.5 million (EUR 53 million) worth of Vietnamese seafood, growing 14.8 percent.
Vietnam's seafood export value to Thailand, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Russia increased, while sales to the Netherlands fell in March, the data showed.
Vietnam’s seafood export value rose 6.3 percent to USD 1.74 billion (EUR 1.45 billion) in the first quarter. Again, the U.S. was the top destination for seafood from Vietnam in the period, at USD 335 million (EUR 279.8 million), up nearly 17 percent year-on-year, ollowed by Japan with USD 307.1 million (EUR 256.5 million), down almost 2 percent from the first quarter last year. China was third at USD 161.6 million (nearly EUR 135 million), up 15.1 percent; and South Korea was fourth at USD 161.3 million (EUR 134.7 million), up 4.7 percent from a year ago. Japan was the only major market where sales dropped.
Vietnam exported pangasius worth USD 137 million (EUR 114.4 million) in March, up 11 percent year-on-year. The increase helped Vietnam’s pangasius export value rise by 0.6 percent to USD 336 million (EUR 280.6 million) in the first quarter, an increase that the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) attributed to improved export activities to China.
VASEP also said the country’s shrimp export value rose 10 percent year-on-year in March to USD 270 million (EUR 225.5 million), lifting total sales in the first quarter to USD 646 million (EUR 539.5 million), up nearly 3 percent from the first quarter of last year.
Photo courtesy of Aleksandar Todorovic/Shutterstock
