April 8, 2009

Vietnam exported US$744 million worth of seafood products in the first quarter of 2009, down 7 percent on-year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

The decrease is due to many Vietnam's seafood importers that have not recovered from the world financial crisis.

Tra and basa catfish surpassed shrimp to be the most forex earning with US$208.4 million, accounting for 36 percent of total seafood export revenue, but down 5 percent against the first quarter of 2008.

Export of shrimp brought in US$181.2 million, accounting for 31 percent and down 7.3 percent on-year.

Meanwhile, exports of cuttlefish decreased nearly 15 percent to only US$38 million and dried seafood decreased 14.3 percent to US$19.2 million.

MARD said that among seafood items, tuna exports saw the sharpest fall of nearly 40 percent.

Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) chairman Tran Thien Hai said that during the first three months of this year, Vietnamese seafood exporters lost 37 markets from 2008 due to low quality and currently exports to only 122 countries.

Hung Vuong JSC chief executive official Duong Ngoc Minh said 10 percent of catfish export volume is low quality that badly affects Vietnamese catfish reputation.

VASEP said among importers, EU was still the biggest with total revenue of US$150.6 million, accounting for 26 percent of Vietnam's total seafood export revenue, but down 15 percent on year.

Followings were Japan and the US but exports to these two markets also decreased by 15 percent.

Meanwhile, export to smaller markets like China and Australia increased by 38 percent and 40 percent respectively. Export of shrimp to China increased 140 percent in the first quarter to US$12.7 million.

VASEP said currently many seafood processing plants in Mekong Delta have to run at only 35 percent to 40 percent of their full capacity due to material shortage or are forced to buy aquatic products at higher price than export to maintain production and fulfill already-signed contracts.

The association expected that the country will earn US$4.5 billion from seafood export this year, same as in 2008.