The United States, Japan and China – Hong Kong are the three largest import markets for Vietnamese seafood. Among them, seafood exports to the United States surged with a growth rate of 16%, reaching 330 million USD. Exports to Japan were equivalent to the same period while exports to China – Hong Kong increased by 15%.
According to the VASEP Association, seafood exports to the United States in March still increased by 10% over the same period, while exports to other markets decreased, it can be seen that the recovery ability of this market is increasingly clear. obvious.
In particular, shrimp exports to the United States in the first quarter of 2024 increased by 15%, tuna, pangasius and crab exports to this market all increased sharply by 13-15%. The average price of pangasius exported to the United States is recovering from its low point at the end of the year, at the end of February at 2.66 USD/kg. Whiteleg shrimp prices also recovered slightly compared to the end of 2023 but were still low compared to the average price over the past 5 years.
Recently, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) announced the final results of the 19th anti-dumping tax review (POR 19) on Vietnamese frozen pangasius fillets exported to the United States. Period from August 1, 2021 to July 31, 2022.
Accordingly, the general anti-dumping tax rate that DOC imposes on Vietnamese pangasius exporters during this review is 2.39 USD/kg. Vinh Hoan enjoys a tax rate of 0 USD/kg. In addition, Can Tho Seafood Import-Export Joint Stock Company, Loc Kim Chi Seafood Joint Stock Company, I.D.I Multinational Investment and Development Joint Stock Company, Hung Vuong Joint Stock Company and Cafatex Seafood Joint Stock Company are all subject to the anti-dumping tax of 0.18 USD/kg.
Compared to the preliminary review results of POR19 announced in September 2023, the final tax rate proposed by POR19 is 0.04 USD/kg higher. However, in general, the POR19 anti-dumping tax rate has been significantly reduced compared to the final results of the previous POR18 review.
Also in March, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) also announced preliminary anti-subsidy taxes on Vietnamese, Indian and Ecuadorian shrimp, according to which Vietnam’s overall tax rate is significantly lower than that of the other two countries. again. These are good signs for Vietnam’s seafood exports to the United States in the near future.
On the other hand, exports to China in March decreased by 11% over the same period last year, mainly reducing pangasius and other marine fish, while shrimp exports to this market still increased by over 30%. Pangasius, white-legged shrimp, lobster, anchovies and crab are the 5 most exported Vietnamese seafood species to China.
Notably, lobster and crab exports to the Chinese market surged strongly in the first quarter of 2024, in which lobster increased 11 times and crab increased 7 times compared to the first quarter of 2023.
Currently, China is tightening inspection of shrimp imported from Ecuador, causing supply from this country to decrease, creating space for Vietnamese whiteleg shrimp. In the first quarter of 2024, Vietnam’s whiteleg shrimp exports to China increased 2.5 times over the same period.
Not only China and the United States, but Japan is also a market with positive signals in Vietnam’s shrimp and crab imports. In particular, whiteleg shrimp exports in the first quarter of 2024 to Japan increased by 20%, crab increased by 23% over the same period last year.
In addition, Vietnamese pangasius is also increasingly popular in Japan. Pangasius exports to the market increased by 25% in the first quarter of this year. Japan also targets the Vietnamese market to process seafood products such as salmon, scads, basa fish… Recently, Japan is actively looking for partners to process scallops for this market. , after China – Japan’s important scallop processing partner – banned seafood imports from Japan.
In addition, the EU and Korean markets still do not have clear signs of recovery with Vietnamese shrimp and pangasius, but tuna exports in the first quarter of 2024 to these markets all grew positively, specifically, exports Tuna exports to the EU increased by 27%, South Korea increased by 15% over the same period last year…
VASEP Association assesses that, in general, tuna exports to major markets are quite positive, with Vietnam’s largest tuna export market – the United States increasing by 30%; Japan increased by 9% over the same period in the first quarter of 2023.
Exports of products such as squid and octopus to Korea still increased by 16%, while to other main markets such as the United States decreased by 3%; Japan reduced by 21%…
In the first quarter of 2024, the average export price of aquatic products generally increased compared to the end of 2023 but remained at a low level. The VASEP Association expressed its hope that after the International Seafood Fairs in the US, EU, Japan,… orders for businesses may improve and export prices will gradually improve.
“While Ecuadorian and Indian shrimp are being warned about antibiotics and labor issues, there will be new opportunities for seafood exports, especially Vietnamese shrimp. However, the problems that the Indian shrimp industry is facing such as labor, environment, and antibiotics are also lessons for Vietnamese businesses to be cautious and seriously comply with the regulations of the import market. as well as domestic regulations to avoid such as barriers and protectionist moves of the market.” – Representative of VASEP Association recommended.