December 8, 2008

Vietnam anticipates earnings of US$4 billion dollars from seafood exports in 2008, amid difficulties surrounding the industry, the Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) said.

In November alone, seafood exports already raked US$450 million, but lower than the October's figure of US$478 million, MARD said.

Currently, the European Union is the biggest market for Vietnamese seafood, accounting 25 percent of the total export volume. It is followed by Japan and the United States, reports the ministry.

This year was difficult for the Vietnam seafood industry as many European customers have cancelled their contracts and purchases due to late deliveries.

Local seafood exporter, Minh Phu Seafood Corporation, needed to ship ten containers of seafood a day to overseas markets, but could only ship between 50 percent to 70 percent of this due to huge backlogs at container ports in Ho Chi Minh City and other southern provinces of Vietnam.

Industry insiders predicted that Vietnam's seafood exports, especially exports of frozen shrimp, tra and basa catfish, frozen cuttlefish and octopus, will continue to grow in 2009.

US$1 = 16,395 Vietnam Dong (VND) (Dec 8)