Aquaculture export turnover may hit US$4.4 billion in H1

In the first five months, aquaculture exports earned nearly US$3.6 billion, up 6 percent against the same period last year.

Specifically, key exports including squids, octopus and fish declined by 1 percent and 3 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, shrimps and catfish saw slight increases of 7 percent and 4 percent. Crab export turnover posted the highest growth rate of 84 percent.

Of the top 4 export markets, only the U.S. market grew 7 percent. The rest including China, Japan, and the EU were stable. Shipment to South Korea grew slightly at 2 percent.

So far, the aquaculture sector is coping with anti-dumping measures on shrimps, catfish share shrinks amid stiff competition in the global market and the IUU yellow card warning.

VASEP forecast that aquaculture export would bounce back in Q3 as demands will go up at year end.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) lowered its target for seafood export value for 2024 to US$9.5 billion from its previous projection of US$10 billion.

In 2023, seafood export value was estimated to reach US$9.2 billion, down 8 percent compared to 2022./.