November 5, 2010

Vietnam's seafood export hits US$4.01 billion in January to October

Vietnam raked in US$4.01 billion from export of seafood in the first 10 months of this year, an increase of 15.3% on-year, according to the country's General Statistics Office, Thursday (Nov 4).

In October alone, Vietnam has exported seafood worth nearly US$530 million, up 17.8% on-year. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, major importers of Vietnam's seafood include the US and Japan in the first 10 months of the year.

The US was the largest market for Vietnam's seafood with US$747.5 million, accounting for 18.64% of the total revenue for Vietnam's seafood exports. Japan followed the US with US$746.3 million, up 18.31% on-year.

In addition to major and traditional markets, Vietnam is targeting to export its seafood products to Latin American and the Middle East markets, according to the ministry.

Vietnam is expected to earn US$4.5 billion from seafood exports by the end of this year, said the ministry.

Last year, Vietnam's export of seafood went down 6.7% on-year to US$4.2 billion due to impacts of global economic downturn, according to the office.