Vietnam Targets US$1.2Bln Seafood Exports to Japan in 2010

Vietnam Targets US$1.2Bln Seafood Exports to Japan in 2010

Vietnam’s seafood exports to Japan are expected to reach US$750 to 800 million this year, at a healthy 9 per cent annual growth, and leap to US$1 to 1.2 billion by 2010, according to the Ministry of Trade. 

The country’s seafood industry is required to maintain its current 25 per cent to 30 per cent market share in Japan, while continuing to develop new products in an expectation to beat the forecast, the ministry’s Trade Information Center said.

Apart from frozen shrimp, the country needs to boost sales of other seafood like fresh shrimp, fish, canned shrimp, cuttlefish, fish and other processed products, it said.

Japan’s shrimp imports are expected to rise by 2.3-3 per cent per year in the time to come, the center said, adding that its frozen cuttlefish imports alone will likely reach 46,000 to 48,000 tons this year and top 62,000 to 67,000 tons in 2010.

Currently, up to 31.4 per cent of Vietnam’s seafood export revenues come from the Japanese market. Last year, the country’s seafood sales to Japan were more than US$680 million, up 31.2 per cent from the previous year.

VietnamNet