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Tuna exports are growing impressively. Photo: T.H

After falling continuously in the first half of the year due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, Vietnam's fishery exports started to recover from July and witnesseddouble-digit growth since September, and saw positive signs since Augustresulting from the stable growth of shrimp exports and fishery products.

After increasing by 10% in September and 12% in October, reaching a record of US$919 million, fishery exports in November 2020 surged 13% year-on-year, reaching US$868 million.

Thanks to the recovery in thelastthree months, fishery exports by the end of November hit US$7.8 billion. Fishery exports for the whole of 2020 areforecasted to reach US$8.58 billion year-on-year.

Among exported fishery products, shrimp is the major product with double-digit growth since June and sharply increased by 25% in September and October, and increased by 28% to US$395 million.

By the end of November 2020, shrimp exports reached US$3.5 billion, increasing by 14% year-on-year. With such good maintenance, shrimp exports in 2020 areexpected to reach over US$3.85 billion, up 15% year-on-year.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the consumption trend in markets still focuses on whiteleg shrimp, small size for the retail segment. Therefore, whiteleg shrimp exports account for 72% of shrimp export value this year, and areestimated at nearly US$3 billion in 2020, while tiger shrimp is only US$616 million, accounting for 16% and marine shrimp 12% reaching US$462 million.

Pangasius exports plunged from March to September with a decrease of 17-35% year-on-year. From October, Pangasius export prices improved, export turnover sharply increased over the previous months, and the decline was 5% year-on-year, it decreased slightly by 4% in November, reaching US$168 million.

By the end of November, pangasius export reached US$1.34 billion, down 24%. Pangasius export for the whole year is estimated to reach about US$1.54 billion, falling 23% year-on-year.

Export turnover of seafood products decreased sharply in March and May (down 47% and 20%, respectively), and showed positive growth since August.

After surging by 15% in September, export turnover increased by 2% in October and 8% in November, reaching US$305 million. By the end of November, Vietnam's export turnover of seaport products was US$2.9 billion, slightly decreasing by 1.2% year-on-year. It is estimated that the export turnover of 2020 will reachUS$3.2 billion.

Among the exported seafood products, export turnover of tuna, squid, and octopus all reported good signs since September. In which, tuna export grew 5-15% in the past three months after falling continuously at 23-32% in the previous five months. Particularly in November, tuna exports increased 6% to US$63 million, bringing 11-month export turnover to US$605 million, dropping 9% year-on-year. Tuna export for the whole year 2020 is estimated to reach about US$720 million, falling nearly 8%.

Export turnover of squid and octopus increased from 9% to 22% in the past four months, of which increased by 9% to US$57 million in November, bringing the export turnover in the 11 months to US$510 million, falling 3.5% year-on-year. Export turnover of tuna is estimated at US$565 million, declining by 2% year-on-year.

Export turnover of marine fish excluding tuna increased by 8% in November, reaching US$154 million, bringing export turnover in 11 months to US$1.53 billion, an increase of 1% year-on-year. Export turnover of marine fish in 2020 reached US$1.68 billion, an increase of 1% year-on-year.

In the top major export markets, the US, EU and China had positive growth of 25%, 30% and 15%, respectivelyin November. Exports to the US since June saw a sharp increase. Accumulated by the end of November, fishery exports to this market reached over US$1.5 billion, up 11% year-on-year. Fishery exports to the US for the whole year areestimated at US$1.65 billion, up 12% year-on-year.

The EU market recovered strongly from September with an increase of 19-30%. Accumulated in 11 months, exports to the EU reached US$900 million, decreasing by 3.8%. Exports to the EU (excluding the UK) in 2020 is estimated at about US$992 million, dropping 2.4% year-on-year.

Fisheryexports to China in November soared by 19% after surging 27% and 16% in September and October. Exports to China in the first 11 months of 2020 reached US$1.3 billion, increasing by 3.4%, and export turnover of the whole year is estimated at US$1.48 billion. This market closely controls fishery exportsdue to fear of Covid infection, so the increase in exports to China is forecast to be lower in the comingmonths.