Seafood exports increased In the first quarter

In March 2024, the US, Japan and China - Hong Kong are still the three largest import markets.

Particularly, seafood exports to the US have made a strong breakthrough with a growth rate of 16% (reaching $ 330 million), and exports to China and Hong Kong increased by 15%. Seafood exports to Japan are equivalent to the same period in 2023. Summarizing the first quarter of 2024, shrimp exports to the US increased by 15%; tuna, pangasius and crab exports to this market all increased sharply from 13-53%.

The average price of pangasius exported to the US is recovering from its low level at the end of the year, by the end of February at $ 2.66/kg. Whiteleg shrimp prices also recovered slightly compared to the end of 2023 but were still low compared to the average price over the past 5 years.

In the Chinese market, seafood exports in March decreased by 11% compared to the same period last year, mainly reducing pangasius and other marine fish. Meanwhile, shrimp products in this market still increased by over 30%.

In particular, lobster and crab exports to the Chinese market also surged strongly in the first quarter of 2024. In particular, lobster exports increased 11 times and crab exports increased 7 times compared to the same period in 2023.

China is also tightening the inspection of shrimp imported from Ecuador, causing supply from this country to decrease, creating space for Vietnamese whiteleg shrimp. In the first quarter of 2024, white leg shrimp exports to China increased 2.5 times over the same period.

In addition to the US and China, demand for shrimp and crab in Japan is also increasing, so the export of these two seafood products has shown positive signs. In particular, whiteleg shrimp exports to this country increased by 20%, while crab exports increased by 23%. In addition, Vietnamese pangasius is increasingly popular in Japan as exports of this product also increased by 25% in the first quarter.

As for the EU and Korean markets, our country's shrimp and pangasius exports to these markets also recovered clearly. Tuna exports to these markets all grew positively, 27% and 15% respectively. In general, tuna exports to major markets are quite positive, such as to the US increasing by 30% and to Japan increasing by 9%.

Squid and octopus exports to Korea still increased by 16%. Meanwhile, these two products when exported to the US and Japan decreased by 3% and 21%, respectively.