Seafood enterprises increase deep processing for export

	Vietnamese seafood popular in US
	The export of seafood changed because of the Covid-19 pandemic
	Support and promote businesses to effectively apply sustainability certifications

Two key products soar

Among the seafood export products of Vietnamese enterprises, the two main products, shrimp and pangasius, saw spectacular growth rates. Notably, pangasius exports are recovering strongly, especially exports to the US market in May 2021 with an increase of about 200%, reaching US$33 million, bringing the export results in the first five months of 2021 to US$135 million, increasing by 57% compared to the same period in 2020.

In which, frozen pangasius fillets has increased strongly since March.

In this month alone, the US imported 9,524 tons of frozen pangasius fillets mainly from Vietnam, with a value of US$25.4 million in March, increasing by 226% in volume and 239% in value compared to the same period last year. Although the average export price of pangasius to the US market in 2020 is lower than in 2019, in the first quarter of 2021, the average frozen pangasius fillet exported to the US increased to US$2.87/kg. Since the end of 2020, the inventory of pangasius in the US has not been high, in addition, the domestic catfish production of this country has decreased.

Therefore, from the beginning of this year, the US has increased imports of frozen pangasius. It is forecasted that exports from June 2021 will increase after this market fully opens from May 20.

In general, pangasius exports of Vietnamese enterprises are recovering better than expected, increasing by US$26 million to reach US$134 million in May, after increasing by US$25.8 million to US$145 million in April. Pangasius export turnover in the first five months of the year reached US$623 million, up by 12%.

According to the analysis of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (the VASEP), pangasius exports recovered thanks to the main markets of the US, China and Europe, which increased purchases. In particular, the US market had the strongest increase thanks to the widely the rollout of coronavirus vaccines, and importers increased their purchases to serve the reopening of food services. Along with pangasius, shrimp exports continued to increase. Shrimp exports increased by 25% in May to US$375 million, after reaching over US$300 million in April, up by 23%. By the end of May, Vietnam's shrimp exports reached US$1.34 billion, up by 14% compared to the same period.

Besides the two main export products, many export seafood products also increased. By the end of May, seafood exports reached US$1.3 billion, up by 14.5% compared to the same period last year. In which, tuna exports accounted for 22% with US$292 million, up by 21% compared to the same period in 2020.

Notably, in April and May, tuna exports increased by nearly 1.5 times compared to the same period last year. These are positive signals for the coming months.

Exports of other marine fishes accounted for 53% of seafood exports with US$698 million in the first five months, up by 12%. Squid and octopus exports increased by 11% to US$212 million, also recovered positively since March. The export of bivalve molluscs also increased sharply by 81% in May, contributing to bringing the results of the first five months of the year to nearly US$49 million, up by 45% compared to the same period last year.

Import markets recover

According to the VASEP, this unexpected positive result has shown the strong adaptation and breakthrough efforts of the Vietnamese seafood business community.

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the consumption habits of seafood products, disrupting the needs of consumer market segments. In that turmoil, Vietnamese seafood enterprises have been flexible in product and market strategies to turn challenges into opportunities.

Ho Quoc Luc, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sao Ta Food Joint Stock Company, said that Covid-19 had a negative impact on the world, but "danger creates opportunities". The danger is that some shrimp farmers are struggling with Covid-19, surely the farming supply chain is more or less broken. That is an opportunity for Vietnamese enterprises' shrimp to be more favorable for export.

“However, we are not subjective, because the growth is only sustainable when there is synchronization. The links in the shrimp value chain need this element. For example, if shrimp farming grows too fast, it can lead to local shortage of food for shrimp," warned Ho Quoc Luc.

As one of the leading shrimp processing and export enterprises in Vietnam, Mr. Le Van Quang, General Director of Minh Phu Seafood Joint Stock Company, said that in order to prepare raw materials for deep processing, Minh Phu has decided to expand the domestic farming area, increase investment in modern technology to innovate breeding and raising technology.

By the end of 2020, Minh Phu has researched, developed and successfully tested the 2-N-4 high-tech shrimp farming model, thereby putting it into operation effectively in two farming areas with 900 ha. At the same time, promote cooperation with a number of domestic and foreign research institutes to modernize shrimp farming technology.

In addition, over the past few years, Minh Phu has been establishing a network of links and shrimp supplies spread throughout the Mekong Delta and the Southwest region, with a variety of sustainable shrimp farming models, such as 100,000 ha of industrial shrimp farming, 25,000 ha of mangrove ecological shrimp farming, and more than 10,000 ha of shrimp-rice farming area.

Along with that, in order to increase the value of export products, the company has focused on deep processing, building and maintaining a traceability system according to each type of material, even each farming area.

According to the VASEP, the supply of seafood raw materials of export processing enterprises is quite stable, especially for shrimp and pangasius products. Therefore, the main factor determining the development of Vietnam's seafood exports in the current period is the market.

In addition to the main markets of the US and EU, exports to markets with FTAs with Vietnam in the past two years continued to increase sharply, of which exports to Australia increased by 65% in the first five months of this year, to Canada increased by 12%, and to the UK increased 17%.

These markets all account for 3.3-4% of Vietnam's seafood export turnover and these will be the markets that play a significant role in promoting Vietnam's seafood export growth in 2021 and the coming years.