Several countries have ramped up their imports of Vietnamese shrimp, catfish, and crabs, fueling its expectation of achieving US$10 billion in seafood export revenue in 2024.

From January to October, the United States, China, and Japan were Vietnam’s largest seafood buyers. 

Meanwhile, Russia reported the sharpest increase in seafood purchase at 95 percent among Vietnam’s 15 main seafood importers during the period.

During the 10-month time frame, Vietnam earned $8.23 billion from seafood exports, a 12-percent year-on-year increase.

If this growth continues until the end of the year, the country is on track to achieve $10 billion in seafood exports.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Vietnam shipped seafood worth $1.1 billion in October, marking the first time since June 2022 that the fishery export value had topped $1 billion in a single month.

Truong Dinh Hoe, general secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), noted that after four years of challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic, regional conflicts, and inflation, the global economic situation is gradually stabilizing.

Vietnam’s seafood exports rebounded at the start of the year and are expected to gain further momentum by year-end.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien emphasized that if Vietnam maintains its export momentum, achieving $900 million in seafood shipments each in November and December, the nation’s seafood sales could surpass $10 billion this year.

From January to October, catfish exports increased 10 percent year on year, reaching $1.7 billion. Shrimp and crab exports surged 20 percent and 59 percent, respectively.

“The outbound shipments of shrimp and catfish have shown positive results, buoyed by the higher demand from the United States, China, and other markets,” he noted.

Vietnam’s seafood shipments to its two largest buyers, China and the U.S., reached $1.5 billion each during the first ten months of the year.

China and the U.S. saw year-on-year spikes of 37 percent and 31 percent, respectively, according to VASEP.

If the upward trend in seafood shipments to China continues, it is expected to ovetake the U.S. to become Vietnam’s biggest fishery importer by the end of 2024.

According to VASEP, small shrimp are mainly netted near the shore by fishermen on small boats which are not required to have a license or be installed with vessel monitoring systems.

Therefore, such small shrimp fail to meet the European market’s export regulations.

Central Vietnam has a large volume of small-sized shrimp, which is in high demand among European customers.

VASEP has proposed that the ministry consider listing small shrimp as a special case, allowing it to be eligible for shipment to Europe.

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