Seafood Exports to EU Up 60 per cent On-Year

Vietnam has so far this year gained more than US$300 million from seafood exports to the European Union (EU) markets, up 60 per cent against the same period last year, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

 

Since early October, domestic seafood exporters have been busy with an increasing number of orders from EU importers since the beginning of October that they were themselves forced to refuse contracts due to an overload in capacity.

 

Agifish General Director Ngo Phuoc Hau said his company did not have enough seafood to deliver to EU importers because ordered volumes rose unexpectedly over September. In the middle of October, many EU importers requested Agifish to sign export contracts and deliver goods right within the month but the company had to turn them down.

 

 A director of another seafood processing and exporting company in Can Tho said his company had also received a lot of orders from EU importers recently and was increasing production capacity to deliver the orders on schedule.

 

EU markets' highest demands are for shrimp, catfish and processed seafood.

 

The VASEP said that the increase is due in part to the bird flu virus, as fearful EU consumers increasing choose seafood instead of chicken for their meals.

 

The high demands from the EU markets are also attributed to their preparations for the coming Christmas and New Year holidays.

 

Despite applying strict regulations on anti-biotic residue in seafood products, the EU’s high demand for the items is really good news for Vietnamese exporters and they should take this chance to boost exports, the association remarked.

 

The increase in exports has upped buying prices of Tra, Basa catfish and shrimp in the Mekong Delta provinces after a period of time of falling prices. Prices of Tra and Basa catfish are VND11,000 – 13,000 per kilo while shrimp prices have risen by VND5,000 – 7,000 per kilo to VND80,000 – 90,000 per kilo for 40-unit-per-kilo grade.

 

Local businesses say boosts in exports of seafood in the final months of the year are the reason for the rise in seafood prices on the domestic market.