Vietnam earns over 7 billion USD from fishery exports in nine months

Vietnam earned over 7 billion USD from fishery exports in the first nine months of 2024, up 8.5% from a year earlier. (Photo: VNA)

After years of disruption due to COVID-19, conflicts, and inflation, global markets are stabilising, allowing Vietnam’s fishery exports to regain momentum, especially in the second half of the year.

In the third quarter alone, fishery exports hit 2.76 billion USD, a nearly 13% increase compared to the same period last year. Key products saw significant growth, with tra fish shipments up 13.5%, shrimp 17.5%, crab 56%, and shelled mollusks 95%.

Shrimp remains the top foreign currency earner, approximating 2.8 billion USD in the first nine months, a 10.5% increase. While frozen shrimp exports face competition from Ecuador and India, processed shrimp maintains a strong market position. Overseas shipments of processed whiteleg shrimp grew by nearly 10%, while frozen whiteleg shrimp rose 4.5%.

Tra fish brought home 1.46 billion USD during January - September, an 8% rise year-on-year, with processed products surging 42%. Tuna exports, while strong earlier in the year, have slowed since August due to raw material shortages, but still increased 16% to reach 715 million USD in nine months.

Crab exports have seen exceptional growth, by 56% in the third quarter and 66% over nine months, primarily driven by demand from China.

VASEP forecasts that the total export value of fishery products for 2024 will hit 9.5 billion USD, a 7% increase from 2023. Shrimp exports are expected to reach nearly 4 billion USD, tra fish 2 billion USD, tuna close to 1 billion USD, and squid and octopus about 640 million USD./.