According to VASEP President Nguyen Thi Thu Sac, Vietnam's seafood industry in 2023 will take much work.

The US, EU, and China suddenly reduced seafood imports.

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said that after setting an export peak of 11 billion USD last year, from the end of 2022 until now, seafood export turnover has continuously decreased and is forecasted to continue difficulties in the third quarter of 2023.
According to VASEP, in the first 5 months of 2023, Vietnam's seafood export turnover reached more than US$3.2 billion, down nearly 30% over the same period last year and deeply down from 10-50% in main markets.Seafood products to the US fell the most with more than 50% in value, the EU decreased by nearly 32%, and China decreased by more than 25%. In particular, the main export seafood products all decreased by double digits, including shrimp down nearly 36%, pangasius down nearly 40% and tuna down more than 30%.

Preliminary statistics from the General Department of Customs show that in May 2023, seafood exports reached 809.5 million USD, an increase of 8.9% compared to April 2023, but still sharply decreased compared to 1.06 billion USD. USD of May 2022.

Generally, in the first 5 months of 2023, seafood exports only reached nearly 3.38 billion USD, down 27.9% - that is, the revenue loss was more than 1.3 billion USD compared to the same period last year.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development report also shows that Vietnam's main export seafood products all recorded a sharp decline in the first 5 months of this year. Pangasius export only earned 690 million USD, down 40.7%; shrimp reached 1.22 billion USD, down 34.4% over the same period in 2022.

Also read: Vietnam's seafood exports to EU predicted to down 20 percent » Breaking News, Latest World News Updates - VietReader Viet Nam

"In 2023, the seafood industry will be extremely difficult."

Speaking at the General Meeting of Members in 2023 and the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) on June 12, VASEP President Nguyen Thi Thu Sac said that from the end of the day In 2022, the association and businesses have determined that 2023 the seafood industry will be extremely difficult.

This forecast is based on the worsening world inflation, consumer demand in main markets has decreased markedly, and inventories are still high.
Besides, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine shows no sign of ending. The climate crisis, high inflation and tight monetary policies will continue to affect the world economy in the coming time. This also poses many risks to the global supply chain and fluctuations in food prices.

According to VASEP Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Thu Sac, many forecasts suggest that the seafood demand of the markets may continue to decline in the third quarter of 2023 instead of recovering from the second quarter as previously forecast.

In addition, the Vietnamese shrimp industry also faces the ability to compete in the cost of shrimp farming with Ecuador and India. The pangasius industry faces the challenge of rising costs and unstable quality seed sources. The IUU yellow card is a major constraint to Vietnam's seafood export growth.

With the pangasius industry, the sharp drop in exports in many markets was explained by the consequences of prolonged inflation and retailers' inventory in the import market. Vietnamese seafood farmers and businesses need help with the high cost of raw materials and other inputs, a sharp profit drop, and a need for more capital to turn around production and business.

Also read: Vietnam aims to be the world leader in seafood production and exports » Breaking News, Latest World News Updates - VietReader Viet Nam

Looking forward to the US when Chinese people consume cautiously

A recent seafood industry analysis report states that VNDirect Securities Company expects seafood exports to recover in the second half of 2023 when the consumption demand of 3 main markets, including the US, EU and China, shows improvement. 

According to VNDirect, the US market will recover from the second half of 2023 due to cooling inflation, reduced inventory levels and high demand for the year-end holidays. This helps Vietnam's seafood export turnover to the US in the second half of 2023 to increase by 40-50% over the same period.

Meanwhile, in the EU market, pangasius consumption continued to improve and stabilize in the second half of this year. Inflation in the EU remains high while the supply of other white fish, such as pollock, is affected by the tension between Russia and Ukraine. Vietnamese pangasius is still open to this market.

VNDirect forecasts that seafood exports to this market of 1.4 billion people will grow less compared to the first half of this year, particularly for the Chinese market.

VNDirect's research team stated that Chinese household spending grew faster than income during the pandemic as their income was affected. Household debt levels have increased by about 7%, from 56% to 63% over the past three years. Rising debt is one of the reasons Chinese households are not borrowing more despite the country's record low-interest rates and loose monetary policies.

Continue to bring Vietnamese seafood to the world.

Faced with this difficult situation, according to a representative of VASEP, the consensus, sharing and solidarity among seafood businesses have made important milestones for the industry, from sales of 1 billion USD to 11 billion USD. Making Vietnam the third largest seafood exporter in the world and aiming to export 20 billion USD.

VASEP Chairman also said that, besides the efforts of businesses and associations, the close attention and direction of the Government, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and other ministries and agencies would also help Vietnam's seafood industry overcome difficulties and grow stronger and more sustainable.

On the side of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien said that VASEP represents nearly 200 members of leading enterprises in seafood processing and export in Vietnam, contributing to more than 80% of Vietnam's total seafood export turnover.

The Deputy Minister suggested that VASEP continue to fulfil its role as a bridge between businesses and the Government, the fishing community and international markets.

Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien affirmed that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is committed to always accompanying the association so VASEP can perform the roles and tasks at the conference well.

Deputy Minister Tien requested that from now until the end of 2023, VASEP needs to regularly assess market developments, propose solutions, promptly inform and propagate to people, and have an appropriate production plan.

The association needs to strengthen cooperation and solidarity among businesses in maintaining and diversifying markets, complying with the regulations of Vietnam and the import market, eliminating unfair competition, and violating illegal, unsustainable development.

At the same time, it is necessary to promptly notify relevant ministries and branches about problems in the export process so that they can take timely measures to handle them and continue to proactively propose amendments and improvements to policies to create favourable conditions, the maximum for production and export activities, ensuring management requirements and sustainable growth.

VASEP also needs to continue to mobilize and propagate members to apply new technologies to reduce production costs, promote production linkages, maintain and develop output markets, and fight technical barriers.