Many key seafood products dropped sharply
Information from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in the first 5 months of 2023, the main export seafood products recorded a sharp decline. For example, pangasius export only earned 690 million USD, down 40.7%; shrimp reached 1.22 billion USD, down 34.4% over the same period in 2022.
Notably, in May 2023, the price of raw shrimp in the Mekong Delta tended to decrease for both black tiger shrimp and vannamei shrimp due to slow export, while the high harvest led to oversupply.
Chairwoman of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) Nguyen Thi Thu Sac said that shrimp exports to major markets decreased by 28-50%. Specifically, the US decreased by 44%, the EU decreased by 49%, and China decreased by 25%.
In addition to difficulties from economic impacts, affecting purchasing power from main import markets, shrimp from Ecuador, India and Indonesia are overwhelming Vietnamese shrimp in the market, causing businesses to worry about competitiveness. shrimp farming costs.
Similar to pangasius, the current price of raw materials in the Mekong Delta provinces continued to decline in May 2023 due to low import market demand. Explaining this issue, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Sac said: Pangasius exports fell sharply in many markets as a result of prolonged inflation and the inventory of retailers in the import market.
Vietnamese seafood farmers and businesses are facing challenges due to the high cost of raw materials and other inputs, a sharp drop in profits, and a lack of capital to turn around production and business.
Striving to reach the goal of 10 billion USD
VASEP expects that, in the second half of this year, seafood exports will be better because orders are gradually increasing to serve the summer and year-end holidays. Because there are still many unpredictable objective factors, the forecast of seafood export in 2023 is only at 9 - 10 billion USD.
Many economic experts recommend that the authorities should focus on removing and handling problems related to the Chinese and American markets; at the same time, implementing solutions to diversify export markets for Vietnam's seafood industry.
Along with market information, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and localities should urge and guide fishermen to urgently implement solutions to overcome the yellow card of the European Commission (EC); strengthen inspection and strictly handle violations of illegal, undeclared and unregulated (IUU) fishing to ensure supply for export and lead the fisheries industry to develop in the direction of lasting.
The seafood industry is recovering, the number of export orders is increasing, many businesses have started working overtime to meet the market's demand. It is expected that by the end of the third quarter of 2023, seafood exports will recover to the same level as in 2022. This is the basis for the seafood industry to achieve the export plan of 10 billion USD for the whole year.
