South Korea becomes leading importer of Vietnamese seafood
South Korea has become one of the leading importers of Vietnamese seafood in the past 10 years, accounting for nine percent of the country's total seafood export value, according to the Vietnam Fisheries Association.
South Korea is now the fifth leading market for Vietnam seafood, after the US, Japan, the EU and China, the association said.
Vietnam has already exported a total of 53,500 tonnes of seafood to South Korea in the first seven months of 2009, at a value of US$159 million, said Nguyen Thai Phuong of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP).
On a year-on-year basis, the figures were down two percent in volume and down 10 percent in value, largely due to the global economic downturn, said Phuong.
But shrimp exports to South Korea increased nine percent in volume to 7,000 tonnes and grew three percent in value to US$47 million over the same period, she said. South Korea consumes an average of 7,300 tonnes of Vietnamese shrimp each year.
This growth is in spite of South Korean efforts to protect the domestic fisheries industry by imposing tariffs of 25-70 percent on 12 varieties of seafood, said the fisheries association.
South Korea, held to a quota in exploiting its own marine fisheries by agreements with Russia, China and Japan, has also invested in fisheries in other warm water regions, it said.
To maintain market share, the association recommended seafood exporters to study the South Korean market closely, become familiar with its demands and focus on improving product quality.
Phuong said VASEP would cooperate with the Korea Fisheries Trade Association to exchange information on increasing market share and studying demand for new products in South Korea. They would also share information about products that fail to meet quality standards or companies that trade fraudulently.
Meanwhile, South Korea has granted import licenses for four more Vietnamese firms. So far, South Korea has licensed 442 Vietnamese companies.
