Friday, 20/01/2017 18:47 (GMT+7)
Although 2017 still sees many difficulties, Vietnam’s seafood export value is likely to reach USD7.4 billion, a year-on-year rise of 6%, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP).
Photo for illustration
The judgement was presented at a conference summarizing Vietnam’s seafood exports in 2016 on January 19
th, in Ho Chi Minh city.
VASEP said the figure was based on assessments about Vietnam’s main export markets in recent time, in which three traditional export markets will witness slight increases compared to 2016.
Specifically, the association forecasts seafood exports to the US are estimated to hit USD1.48 billion this year, up 1%, much lower than the growth of 11% of 2016.
The reason VASEP gave the modest growth forecast for the US market was due to competitive pressure with countries in South America and anti-dumping tax and technical barriers the market imposes on the commodity.
For the two remaining traditional markets, seafood exports to the EU will post USD1.2 billion, up 1%, while those to Japan will be USD1.1 billion, up 2%.
On the contrary, the Chinese market is forecast to be a “hot spot” in 2017. According to VASEP, China is expected to help Vietnamese seafood traders bag USD1.08 billion, a 30% increase against last year.
Last year, Vietnamese seafood products were exported to 161 markets with a turnover of USD7.053 billion, up 74% from 2015. Shrimp occupied the majority of the export value with 44%, equivalent to USD3.13 billion. It was followed by tra fish, tuna, cuttlefish and octopus./.
BTA