Vietnam’s seafood exports increase in first quarter
Vietnam’s seafood exports remained strong in the first quarter of this year although the industry encountered problems over anti-dumping tariffs in the U.S. market, according to official figures.
In the first three months of 2005, the country’s seafood exports reached 445 million USD, up roughly 15.27 per cent over last year’s same period, the Ministry of Planning and Investment said.
Seafood sales to Japan and the European Union grew by more than 50 and 70 per cent respectively, although these two markets have strict food sanitation and safety requirements, said Nguyen Huu Dung, secretary-general of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).
The surge to these two markets has helped make up for a decline in exports to the American market following the shrimp anti-dumping lawsuit brought by U.S. shrimpers against Vietnamese exporters, he said.
Potential market
China is also another potential market for Vietnamese seafood, as demand for seafood, particularly high-quality products in the country, has been on a sharp increase so far, according to Dao Ngoc Chuong, a Vietnamese counselor in China.
Rising demand has boosted the average cost of fresh seafood imports on the mainland market to nearly 6,000 USD per ton, said market observers.
So far, seafood has been mainly sold to China through border trading or via Hong Kong, said Mr. Dung.
But as a member of the World Trade Organization, China is moving to reduce small-scale border trading transactions, which presents an excellent opportunity for Vietnam’s seafood industry to boost exports to the Chinese market via large-scale transactions, said Mr. Dung.
In 2004, Vietnam’s seafood exports only reached 2.35 billion USD, failing to beat its initial forecast of 2.6 billion USD because major export items like shrimp or catfish were subject to anti-dumping duties in the U.S. market.
The industry has set a target of 2.5 billion USD for outbound seafood sales this year.
Source: Vietnam Net – Compiled by Hieu Trung.
Story from Thanh Nien News
Published: 23 March, 2005, 22:05:01 (GMT+7)
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