Seafood exports to boom in year-end despite headwinds: Experts

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) reported that as of the end of September, seafood exports were estimated at US$7.7 billion, mostly shrimps and tra fish.

VASEP Deputy General Secretary Nguyen Hoai Nam said that in the remaining months of the year, they are expected to increase strongly due to increased demand.

However, he said that the fisheries industry is also facing many challenges including a lack of raw materials for shrimp processing, and competition from Ecuador which boasts a strong shrimp industry. Alongside, fierce competition also comes from China which is providing 60% of the total aquatic products to the world.

Experts held that along with objective difficulties, Vietnam's fisheries sector is also facing internal barriers. To date, regulations on tuna size for exploitation have not been resolved, making it difficult for exporters to buy enough materials for processing and exporting.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has set a target of US$10 billion in seafood exports for this year.

However, the VASEP representative asserted that the sector still enjoys many advantages. Many exporters have managed to grasp opportunities from emerging markets such as South America and the Middle East to balance market demand, while promoting the domestic market.

Highlighting the great potential of the domestic market, VASEP Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Thu Sac said that in order to balance supply and demand and reduce dependence on export markets, seafood enterprises need to focus on developing the domestic market, bringing products for export to Vietnamese consumers.

Vu Minh Duc, HR director of Minh Phu Hau Giang Seafood Corp, said the fact that businesses have still received contracts is a good sign. Duc said that to promote sales of Minh Phu shrimp products, together with increasing shrimp quality, the company has applied a strategy of reducing prices according to the allowed profit margin, thus enabling it to compete with foreign shrimp products and promote sales in the domestic market in retail channels such as supermarkets at the same time.

To balance the advantages and disadvantages, experts advised businesses to stay vigilant even amid high market demand, while proactively improving their competitiveness, making the most of their advantages, and increasing the production and export of high value-added products, thus creating a driving force to maintain the growth momentum for the industry.