November 29, 2013

During January to October of this year, Vietnamese surimi exports to 11 European countries were down 45.2%, which brought total revenue of US$13 million which was down compared to the same period in of 2012, reports VASEP.

The fish products kept showing a drop of 0.8% – 92.5% in consecutive months in the first three quarters of this year, according to Viet Nam Customs.

The EU ranked fourth among Viet Nam's surimi importers in the first quarter. Since April, sales to the block started to slide to the fifth position in the top 10 importers, after China.

Viet Nam saw a decline of 12.5% – 87.4% in surimi shipments to most markets in the EU in terms of value, where Belgium, the Netherlands and Sweden got a sharp drop of more than 80%. France, Spain and Germany all reduced 30% of their surimi import value.

This year has been as a tough year for Vietnamese surimi exporters, as sales to most Western European countries declined.

France was the biggest surimi buyer, with a proportion of 64% in EU surimi imports, but its purchase stumbled this year. Spain's surimi purchase was also lower due to persistent economic crisis.