According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), seafood exports are recovering in the third and fourth quarters, with the full-year 2020 results expected to reach 8.26-8.3 billion USD.

According to statistics from the General Department of Customs, in July, Vietnam's seafood export turnover reached 796.3 million USD, up 0.8% compared to July 2019. Thus, seafood exports in July continued to recover after increasing 0.3% in June.

In the first 7 months of 2020, seafood export turnover reached 4.4 billion USD, down 6% over the same period in 2019.

In July, seafood exports to the US market continued to grow positively, increasing by 20.8% compared to July 2019, reaching 184.35 million USD. In the first 7 months of 2020, Vietnam's seafood exports to the US reached 838.44 million USD, up 4.5% over the same period in 2019.

Seafood exports to the EU market in July also showed signs of improvement, falling only 2.3% compared to July 2019, while the decline in previous months was over 18%. Meanwhile, seafood exports to the Japanese market continued to face difficulties and exports to China decreased again.

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), the Covid-19 pandemic has not abated in the world and continues to affect Vietnam's seafood exports to markets in the second quarter of 2020. After decreasing by 16% in May to 639 million USD, seafood exports in June continued to decrease by 10%, estimated at 626 million USD.

In the first 6 months of 2020, the country's seafood exports are estimated to reach over 3.5 billion USD, down 10% over the same period last year. Of which, the sharpest decrease was in pangasius with a 31% drop, tuna and octopus both down 20%, other types of marine fish down slightly by 2%. Only shrimp maintained a modest increase.

However, VASEP forecasts that seafood exports will gradually recover in the third and fourth quarters, with the whole year 2020 results reaching 8.26-8.3 billion USD, down 3.8% compared to 2019.

There are also positive signs for exports as retail sales in the global market remain stable or increase for frozen, canned, marinated and smoked seafood with longer shelf lives.

Global seafood trade has stagnated due to disruptions in shipping, but the trend of e-commerce and online retail will partly compensate for the decline in market demand.

In addition, VASEP believes that the EVFTA agreement, which will take effect from August 1, could be a "boost" for Vietnam's seafood exports in the last months of the year, especially for products that enjoy a 0% tax rate as soon as the agreement comes into effect, such as black tiger shrimp, frozen white-leg shrimp, processed squid and octopus, etc.

"EVFTA will be a big boost for the seafood industry to increase its competitive advantage compared to countries with FTAs ​​with the EU such as Ecuador, India, and Thailand. According to many studies, after EVFTA comes into effect, seafood exports to Europe can increase by 20% compared to before, when there is a competitive advantage over other countries. For example, with tuna, the tax rate will be 0%, European partners will increase their purchases of Vietnamese tuna instead of buying from other markets with high tax rates," said Mr. Truong Dinh Hoe, General Secretary of VASEP.

Source:

Phuong Anh. “Seafood exports show signs of recovery, the whole year could reach 8.3 billion USD”, August 25, 2020. https://baodautu.vn/xuat-khau-thuy-san-co-tin-hieu-phuc-hoi-ca-nam-co-the-dat-83-ty-usd-d128327.html#:~:text=Theo%20Hi%E1%BB%87p%20h%E1%BB%99i%20Ch%E1%BA%BF%20bi%E1%BA%BFn,%2D8%2C3%20t%E1%BB%B7%20USD.&text=Theo%20th%E1%BB%91ng%20k%C3%AA%20c%E1%BB%A7a%20T%E1%BB%95ng,so%20v%E1%BB%9Bi%20th%C3%A1ng%207%2F2019.