Seafood exports will flourish in the second quarter

According to Truong Dinh Hoe, Secretary General of Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), seafood export in the first months of this year has declined due to many reasons. Specifically: trade barriers, anti-price tax on shrimp and pangasius from the US market, policies to tightly control the border of China, technical barriers from major markets. Along with that, in the first quarter, the supply of world shrimp increased, the inventory in the markets remained large, the export price decreased, while the price of Vietnamese shrimp was difficult to compete with other countries such as India and Indonesia. .

However, Mr. Hoe assessed, in the second quarter and the following months, seafood export will be more prosperous. The reason is that, in Japan, US, EU or China markets, Vietnam’s seafood products have certain advantages. In addition, China’s announcement of the approval of Vietnam’s 33 seafood products exported to the country is exempted from import duties with a basic tax rate of 0% under the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement. It is also a motivation for businesses to boost exports to this market. “For a long time, enterprises (businesses) have been doing business with China but this announcement will be a basis to create a stronger belief for businesses (businesses) to boldly bring goods to the government, reduce risks in payment” Mr. Hoe affirmed.

Sharing about market orientation in 2019, Ms. Nguyen Thi Anh, Director of Song Tien Seafood Company (SOTICO) said, Europe and China are still the two main markets of SOTICO in 2019. Especially with If China mainly exported quota before, SOTICO recently negotiated with its partner to sign a formal contract to avoid price pressures and production plans.

According to Truong Dinh Hoe, along with optimistic signals, the fisheries industry is focusing on solutions for each industry and market to achieve the target set this year. On the market, in 2019 VASEP determined to be the year for the European market, so it will organize communication to promote the image of pangasius as well as recommend production enterprises in accordance with the standards of this market. As for the industry like shrimp, VASEP recommends that enterprises continue to improve processing issues, increase the proportion of value-added processing to meet the programs of different markets.