Seafood export value plummets 6%

Viet Nam saw a total seafood export value of US$461 million in the first two months of this year, 5.8 per cent lower than the same period last year, according to the General Statistic Office (GSO).

Thanh Hoa Seafood Import Export Co workers process frozen shrimp for exports. The country exported US$461 million worth of seafood during the first two months of this year, 5.8 per cent lower than the same period last year.

LookAtVietnam - Viet Nam saw a total seafood export value of US$461 million in the first two months of this year, 5.8 per cent lower than the same period last year, according to the General Statistic Office (GSO).

The office said that in February alone, the country had earned $250 million from seafood exports.

The decline was due to the effects of the global economic crisis, causing demand for all goods to go down, including seafood, on the world market.

The demand for seafood had been reduced in Viet Nam’s traditional export markets, including the US, the European Union and Japan, the office said.

Meanwhile, demand for Vietnamese seafood products had increased in new export markets, but Vietnamese exporters had faced difficulties with payments because of the economic crisis, it said.

Viet Nam’s exporters have actively expanded their export activities to Asian and smaller export markets since early this year to restrict the decline of export values.

Luong Le Phuong, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that to overcome the difficulties in exporting seafood, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development had directed seafood producers to enhance participation in domestic and foreign trade fairs.

Also, producers should expand their businesses in the domestic market and apply standards on food hygiene and safety for producing materials to improve the quality of seafood, Phuong said.

According to the Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), seafood exporters may not reach their target of $4 billion in exports this year, with export values now expected to decline by 15-20 per cent from last year’s total of $4.27 billion due to economic downturn, falling demand and foreign exchange rates.

VietNamNet/VNA