Vietnamese seafood exporters are optimistic the recent export surge into the Chinese will continue in 2020, the Nong nghiep Viet Nam reported 22 December.
China became the Vietnamese seafood sector’s fastest-growing export market in 2019, with Vietnam exporting seafood products worth USD 1.1 billion (EUR 992.7 million) to China between January-November 2019, up 19.7 percent from the same period last year. If the yet-to-be-released December statistics remain steady, it will be the second time that Vietnam has seen its seafood exports to China surpass USD 1 billion, following the USD 1.09 billion (EUR 902.4 million) worth of seafood it sold to China in 2017, customs data showed. China is likely to become the third-biggest market for seafood from Vietnam in 2019, after the United States and Japan.
In the first half of 2019, China imported seafood worth USD 7.03 billion (EUR 6.34 billion), soaring 32 percent year-on-year, and China’s seafood export market is forecast to further grow in 2020.
Pangasius and shrimp were the two top seafood commodities sent from Vietnam to China in 2020. China (including Hong Kong) was Vietnam’s biggest buyer of pangasius in the first 10 months of 2019, with its purchases rising 19.3 percent year-on-year to USD 552.4 million (EUR 498.5 million). And that trend seems to be accelerating, as in October, China increased its year-over-year pangasius exports by 17.5 percent.
Vinh Hoan, Vietnam’s top pangasius exporter, has keyed into China for growth in 2020.
China will become a key market for top pangasius exporter from Vietnam, in 2020 and coming years, given China’s huge population and its exemption of import duty on pangasius from Vietnam, the company has said. Increased online sales in China, including sales through Alibaba, will also help Vinh Hoan and other pangasius exporters boost exports to China, according to Vinh Hoan. And pangasius consumption still has plenty of room for growth, considering per capita pangasius consumption in China is currently 0.14 kilograms, lower than the 0.32 kilogram per capita rate in the U.S., according to KIS Viet Nam Securities Corporation.
KIS forecasts that Vinh Hoan will earn USD 47 million (EUR 42.4 million) from exports to China in 2020, up 24.7 percent from estimated value in 2019. Vinh Hoan’s export value to China is expected to rise to USD 58.6 million (EUR 52.9 million) in 2021, up 55.4 percent from the estimated value in 2019.
Shrimp exports to China also saw an increase in 2019, with Vietnam’s export value surging 8.7 percent year-on-year to USD 438.6 million (EUR 395.8 million) in the first 10 months of 2019.
Trade estimates put China’s shrimp imports at more than 800,000 metric tons in 2019, and that number is expected to increase in the years ahead. Vietnam’s geographic proximity to China gives it an advantage in grabbing a bigger share of the Chinese shrimp market, but with qualifications, Truong Dinh Hoe, the chairman of the Vietnam Association for Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), said.
As China has increasingly tightened rules for imported seafood products, Vietnam’s shrimp exporters must shift their production for China, treating it as an advanced market and raising the quality of their exports to meet rising demand for premium products there, Truong said.
Photo courtesy of Navico Seafood
