2024 is witnessing strong growth in Vietnam's seafood export industry, approaching the 10 billion USD mark, marking an important milestone in the industry's export development journey. After reaching a peak of 1 billion USD in October, seafood exports in November slowed down slightly but still maintained impressive growth, with a value of 924 million USD, up 17% over the same period in 2023. Accumulated to the end of November, Vietnam's total seafood export turnover reached nearly 9.2 billion USD, up 11.5% over the previous year.

Shrimp exports maintained impressive growth momentum, reaching an increase of 22% in November, and are expected to reach 4 billion USD by the end of the year. Other products such as pangasius and tuna also recorded positive growth. Pangasius reached 1.84 billion USD in the first 11 months of the year, and are expected to reach 2 billion USD by the end of 2024. Tuna, despite slowing growth, still increased by 8% compared to November 2023, and could reach 1 billion USD as the record in 2022. In addition, some products such as crab, shellfish and squid also recorded high growth, of which shellfish had an impressive growth of up to 180%.

In addition to its main products, Vietnam’s seafood export industry has also strongly developed by-products such as fishmeal. Fishmeal exports reached 220.4 million USD in the first 10 months of the year, and are forecast to reach 264.6 million USD for the whole year, with the Chinese market accounting for nearly 90% of fishmeal export turnover.

China - Hong Kong has taken the lead in Vietnam's seafood import markets, with a growth rate of 61% in November, bringing the total cumulative turnover to more than 1.7 billion USD, up 19% over the same period last year. The US market also recorded positive growth of 21% in November, reaching 1.67 billion USD after 11 months, and is forecast to continue to be positive in the last month of the year before the US government can apply new tariffs. Although the Japanese, EU and Korean markets did not have a big breakthrough in November, they still contributed significantly to the total seafood export turnover.

By the end of the year, with the current growth momentum, the Vietnamese seafood industry can achieve the target of 10 billion USD in exports, an increase of 11.5% compared to 2023. In particular, shrimp and pangasius will continue to be the two main pillars contributing to this success, with shrimp forecast to reach 4 billion USD and pangasius possibly reaching 2 billion USD.

Overall, 2024 is a promising year for the Vietnamese seafood industry, as exports continue to achieve impressive achievements, not only in value but also in the diversity and stability of export markets and products.

Source: VASEP