Vietnam’s seafood exports in the first quarter of this year reached
1.2 billion USD, representing a year-on-year decline of 7.5-8 percent.
According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood
Exporters and Producers (VASEP), the country earned 447-450 million USD
from exporting fishery products in March, down 17-18 percent against the
same month last year.
Experts said that domestic shrimp producers
are facing difficulties derived from decreasing demand and Japan ’s
strict technical barrier related to ethoxiquyn levels in the products.
VASEP estimated that shrimp exports fell by 10 percent to
160 million USD in March and 7.9-8 percent to 400 million USD in the
first three months of the year.
The export of tra fish –
one of the country’s major hard currency earners – saw a 13 percent
decrease to 140 million USD last month, pulling down the country’s total
export of this product in Q1 to 393 million USD, a fall of 7.6 percent
from a year ago.
In the above-mentioned period, tuna
exports fetched 145 million USD, up 12 percent compared to the same
period last year. However, the March figure went down 16 percent and the
decreasing trend is likely to continue in the coming months.
The
export of other sea fish decreased 28 percent to over 60 million USD in
March, resulting in a 9 percent drop in the first three months. Octopus
exports saw a sharp decrease of 34 percent and 22 percent in March and
the first quarter, respectively. To increase the country’s export
turnover in the months to come, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural
Development Vu Van Tam requested localities to actively assist
businesses in implementing activities to expand their markets and
propose timely solutions to remove their difficulties.-VNA