Seven-month seafood exports bring back US$5.3 billion

July alone witnessed businesses earn US$885 million from exporting the products, up 14% year on year. This also marked the month which recorded the highest export turnover so far this year.

Throughout the January to July period, seafood exports to the United States and China-Hong Kong recorded the highest growth rate of 18% to reach over US$930 million.

The EU market enjoyed a growth rate of 10% to US$600 million, whilst seafood exports to the Republic of Korea rose slightly by 1% to US$426 million.

VASEP pointed out that in the first seven months of this year shrimp exports brought in nearly US$2 billion, marking an annual increase of 7%, of which lobster exports skyrocketed by three times to hit US$140 million compared to the same period last year.

Pangasius exports also edged up by 7.7% year on year to fetch more than US$1 billion. China made up the leading consumer of Vietnamese pangasius with a value of US$317 million, up 2.3%.

Tuna exports also surged by nearly 21% to US$555 million, mainly due to a sharp rise in the canned-product segment.

VASEP experts predict that the country will record nearly US$10 billion in seafood turnover this year, up 12% from the previous year.