A shrimp dish. (Photo: seafoodfromvietnam)

Country on track to meet its export target: VASEP

VIET NAM
Thursday, August 16, 2012, 01:20 (GMT + 9)

The Vietnam Association of Seafood exporters and Producers (VASEP) insists that Vietnam will meet its seafood export revenue target of USD 6.5 billion for 2012 – up from last year’s USD 6.1 billion – despite obstacles including material and capital shortage.

Vietnam’s seafood export revenue hit USD 3.4 billion in the January-July period, already marking a 6.5 per cent year-on-year jump. Therefore, the seafood industry needs to bring in USD 3.1 billion more between now and the end of 2012 to fulfill its target, VASEP stated.

VASEP General Secretary Truong Dinh Hoe noted that the new USD 6.5 billion-target was formulated for various reasons, among which there was a gentle drop in seafood export value in the second quarter, which is when consumption in the European market usually slows down because of summer vacations. The Association expected seafood exports to start buying larger amounts of seafood again by the end of August or September, The Saigon Times Daily reports.

Another reason is that exporter sentiment has also improved in light of the government’s solutions on rescheduling loans and lowering interest rates, Hoe commented.

VASEP estimated seafood export revenue in the third quarter will reach USD 1.84 billion, a climb of 17 per cent against Q2 and 7 per cent year-on-year, and taking to USD 4.7 billion the total export value in the January-September period.

Tuna exports hit nearly USD 312 million during the first seven months of 2012, rising by 42.3 per cent compared to the same period last year. The main markets are the US, Japan, the EU and the Middle East, with the US taking up 50 per cent of all tuna exports, VNS reports.

The country also has plans to grow its white leg shrimp farming areas while slashing the areas of tiger shrimp to better meet market demands. Vietnam will produce 30 billion tiger shrimp in 2015 but only 29 billion in 2020 and white leg shrimp output will rise from 33 billion in 2015 to 57 billion in 2020.

Difficulties in import markets, however, have slowed down seafood exports, said Nguyen Van Kich, general director of Cafatex Company.

Specifically, shrimp exports have been obstructed by Japan’s ethoxyquin testing while markets like the US and Europe have curbed their imports. In addition, Vietnam is having a rough time competing with India, which offers much cheaper shrimp.

“I am not sure about VASEP’s seafood export forecast of USD 6.5 billion this year due to slow consumption,” Kich said.

Other enterprises also informed that it will be tricky to reach the seafood export target of USD 6.5 billion this year because material sources are falling and businesses have yet to access bank loans.

Related article:

- Tighter restrictions by Japanese authorities could harm shrimp exporters

By Natalia Real
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com

Print