Despite weak demand in some major markets, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) expects that Vietnam will be able to export more than US$7 billion worth of seafood this year, up 6.3% versus 2015.

Employees are at work at a seafood processing enterprise in the Mekong Delta. VASEP expects that Vietnam will earn more than US$7 billion from exporting seafood this year, up 6.3% versus 2015

VASEP general secretary Truong Dinh Hoe told a conference in Can Tho City on April 20 that seafood exports remain difficult this year but would be better than last year due to the possibility of stronger sales of shrimp, squid, octopus and sea fish.  

Shrimp shipments are forecast to grow significantly this year despite pressure on price falls and tougher competition from rivals including India, Indonesia, Ecuador and Thailand, Hoe said at the conference held for seafood firms in the Mekong Delta.

VASEP has projected shrimp export revenue at US$3.2 billion this year, up 12% over 2015, on the back of Vietnam’s free trade agreements (FTAs) with other ASEAN countries, South Korea, Japan and the European Union (EU).

Hoe said Vietnam could see tuna exports this year growing 8% year-on-year to US$500 million, squid and octopus rising 10% to US$470 million and other seafood products edging up 5% to US$1.3 billion.

However, tra fish exporters are facing a tougher 2016, so export revenue could slide by 5% to US$1.5 billion. VASEP attributed the decline to a high anti-dumping duty of 69 U.S. cents imposed on a kilo of Vietnamese tra fish fillets exported by voluntary defendants by the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) in the eleventh administrative review (POR 11), weak demand in a number of markets, and fiercer competition.      

Therefore, VASEP forecast seafood exports would mount to US$7.07 billion this year after all factors are taken into account.

At the conference, corporate representatives expressed concerns over the competitiveness of Vietnamese seafood and antibiotic residues permitted by authorities in importing markets.

Nguyen Nhu Tiep, head of the National Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance Department (Nafiqad), said there were fewer shipments of Vietnamese seafood found to contain forbidden antibiotics in the first quarter of this year than quarter four of 2015.

Competent agencies in importing markets issued warnings against 31 shipments of tra and shrimp imported from Vietnam in quarter one this year, with half of the number relating to antibiotic residues.