HCMC – Vietnam’s shrimp and tra fish exports had soared in the year to October, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the country’s seafood exports, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) reported.
From January to October, Vietnam earned US$9.5 billion from seafood exports, up 34% year-on-year. Of the amount, shrimp exports reached US$3.8 billion, increasing 19% over the same period last year, while tra fish grew 80%, bringing in US$2.2 billion.
This year, shrimp exports are expected to top US$4.4 billion, an increase of 14% versus 2021, with whiteleg shrimps remaining the chief exports, accounting for 75% of the total, and black tiger shrimps making up 13%.
Meanwhile, tra fish is estimated at US$2.5 billion for the whole year, shooting up to 58% over 2021. The surge resulted from the Ukraine-Russia military conflict, pushing whitefish exports such as Vietnamese tra fish up 40-200%, exporters said.
Tuna exports in the year to October had expanded 50% year-on-year to US$890 million. Squid and octopus exports were up 32% to US$625 million.
With such positive results, VASEP forecast the nation’s seafood exports would surpass US$10 million, a 20-year high.
By the end of 2022, seafood will account for some 3% of the country’s all exports and contribute 12% of total export revenue. This shows that fisheries play a leading role in Vietnam’s GDP growth, especially in agro-forestry-fishery exports, said Le Hang, deputy director of VASEP.
Currently, Vietnam is the third largest seafood exporter, after China and Norway. Vietnamese seafood is forecast to make up over 7% of the world’s seafood market this year.
