Rising cost burden

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), container freight rates from Asia to North America and Europe remained high in July 2026. Rates from the Far East to the US West Coast stood at around 7,072 USD per 40-foot equivalent unit (FEU), up 66.6%, while rates to Northern Europe reached 5,457 USD/FEU, up 42.6% month-on-month.

For frozen seafood, higher logistics costs directly affect price competitiveness, delivery schedules and profit margins. Rising freight rates make it harder for businesses to maintain competitive prices against producers in countries with larger-scale production or more favourable logistics conditions.

The pressure is even greater for fresh fruits due to its short shelf life. Nguyen Dinh Tung, General Director of Vina T&T Group, said refrigerated container freight to the US had at times reached 7,800 USD/FEU. Geopolitical tensions can also nearly double transport time, forcing exporters to shift some shipments to air freight at much higher costs to ensure product quality and delivery schedules, significantly reducing profits.

Domestic transport also adds to the burden. Nguyen Van Muoi, Deputy Secretary-General of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, said around 80% of agricultural products are still transported by road, while cheaper inland waterway and rail services remain underused.

In major production areas such as the Mekong Delta and Central Highlands, connectivity to raw-material zones remains limited, with many roads and bridges unable to accommodate container trucks. Goods therefore have to be transshipped several times before reaching ports.

Major trading hubs also lack large-scale agricultural logistics centres. Pre-processing, packaging, cold storage, plant quarantine and irradiation services remain fragmented, forcing businesses to move goods through multiple stages, increasing both time and costs.

Transport currently accounts for around 30% of the cost of many fruit and vegetable products, with domestic logistics alone making up about 17%, Muoi said.

Optimising entire supply chain

With costs accumulating across both domestic and international logistics chains, Vietnam’s agricultural advantage is being eroded, experts stressed the need for optimising the whole supply chain, including logistics infrastructure, data infrastructure and transport capacity.

Tran Chi Dung, a standing member of the Vietnam Logistics Business Association (VLA) in charge of agricultural logistics, said countries are increasingly competing through verified data infrastructure. Without an integrated system linking growing areas, logistics, quarantine, carbon certification and customs, businesses still face a “separate dossier at every checkpoint”, slowing market access.

The VLA has proposed developing infrastructure for authenticating agricultural export data and called on the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to submit to the Government a mechanism recognising the legal validity of digitally authenticated data in international supply chains.

Alongside data infrastructure, faster customs clearance is crucial to reducing logistics costs. Meanwhile, new EU requirements, including the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) and environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria, are placing greater demands on emissions reduction and data transparency. Businesses therefore need to move towards green logistics, with verifiable data covering production areas, logistics routes and carbon footprints.

From the transport perspective, VASEP Secretary-General Nguyen Hoai Nam proposed the Government develop Vietnam’s container and refrigerated-container fleets to increase self-reliance in transporting exports, reduce dependence on foreign shipping routes and improve resilience amid fluctuations in the global shipping market.

Businesses also need greater flexibility to cope with disruptions caused by geopolitical conflicts and natural disasters. Developments in the Middle East in recent months offer a clear example, he said.

According to Truong Xuan Trung, Head of the Vietnam Trade Office in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), amid continued uncertainty around the Strait of Hormuz, businesses should develop flexible transport options rather than rely on a single route./. VNA