Crab exports out of Vietnam declined steadily throughout the second-half of last year, with the biggest reduction seen in the country’s No. 1 market, the United States, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).
The association confirmed the Southeast Asian country’s crab export value for the first 10 months of 2015 totaled USD 95 million (EUR 88.2 million), down 8 percent year-on-year. In October alone, the export value was just 73.5 percent of what it was in the same month of 2014.
Vietnam’s crab exports to the U.S. market after 10 months totaled USD 45.5 million (EUR 42.2 million), a decrease of 18 percent year-on-year. The United States accounted for 48 percent of Vietnamese crab exports.
While not enough to offset the decline in the U.S. trade, there was a 22 percent increase in crab exports to Japan over the same period.
VASEP valued Japan’s imports of Vietnamese crab at USD 19 million (EUR 17.6 million) for January through October, making it the country’s second most important market.
