Crab export shows impressive growth

According to Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), despite great difficulties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, in 2021, the export of crabs and other crustaceans still grew by 3.9%, reaching $189 million. With this export value, crabs and other crustaceans contribute a 6% market share in the total seafood export value of $3.4 billion in 2021.

If growth in 2021 was still modest, in the first few months of this year, crabs and other crustaceans export has grown sharply. In January, the export of crabs and other crustaceans reached more than $23 million, up 82% compared to January 2021.

In February, exports of this group of products continued to grow strongly, bringing the total export value of the first two months of the year to $34.3 million, up 85.6% over the same period. In March, the export growth rate decreased, but in general, for the whole first quarter of this year, the export of crabs and other crustaceans still increased by 62% over the same period in 2021, reaching over $50 million and accounting for 5.6% of the total seafood export value of the whole quarter of $920 million.

Crabs and other crustaceans export showed impressive growth in the first quarter of this year, mainly thanks to high demand in the world market.

After falling in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, world demand for crabs recovered in 2021, showing a growth of 16%. Increased demand, coupled with logistical difficulties, have caused crab prices to soar globally. This is very evident in the US market.

In 2021, the import of some crab products into the US increased sharply in turnover. For example, imports of red crabs from China increased by 42% in quantity and 50% in value compared to 2020, imports of blue crabs from Indonesia increased by 13% in quantity and 80% in value, and imports of blue crabs from Venezuela 12% increase in quantity and 69% in value…

The US, China and South Korea are the world's largest crab import markets. Despite the increasingly high price of crab, these markets are still seeing strong import demand in the first months of this year. Over the first 2 months of this year, the US imported 8,479 tons of crabs of all kinds, worth $376 million, up 15.3% in quantity and 82.1% in value over the same period in 2021.

According to Ms. Le Hang, Deputy Director of VASEP.PRO Center, in the first months of this year, importers from China and Hong Kong both increased orders for many seafood products from Vietnam, including crabs. As a result, in the first two months of this year, crab export to these markets increased by 198% over the same period in 2021. This is a very positive signal in terms of markets for Vietnamese crabs, for last year, crab export to China decreased by 23% compared to the previous year.

In the coming months, the market is still open for Vietnamese crabs. The fact that Russia's seafood exports are under great impact from US and EU sanctions due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict will result in a shortage of demand for crabs in these major consuming markets. Russia is the world's leading producer and exporter of crabs with a crab catch quota (TAC) of 107,512 tons this year.

Meanwhile, according to the US National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the world's supply of crabs will decrease this year, as snow crab supplies in the Bering Sea and Alaska are expected to be low, causing prices of these products to continue to increase.

According to VASEP, Vietnam's processed crabs now have a good position in a number of markets. For example, in Australia, the import value of processed crabs from Vietnam is 149 tons, accounting for 38.6% of the total import quantity of this group of products into Australia in 2021.

Among the non-EU suppliers, although the export quantity tends to decrease due to the IUU yellow card, Vietnam is still the main exporter of processed crabs to the EU with 891 tons in 2020. France, the UK, Netherlands and Belgium are the largest markets importing crabs from Vietnam in the EU. Vietnamese businesses are specialized in the production of mud crabs and blue crabs for processing. In particular, blue crab is utilized the most in processed crab products such as crab meat (mainly canned or bottled crab meat).