Several countries have increased imports of Vietnamese shrimp, catfish and crabs, fueling hopes of reaching $10 billion in seafood export revenue in 2024.

From January to October, the United States, China and Japan were the largest buyers of Vietnam’s seafood.

At the same time, Russia recorded the largest increase in seafood purchases, 95 percent, among Vietnam’s top 15 seafood importers during this period.

During this 10-month period, Vietnam earned $8.23 billion from seafood exports, an increase of 12 percent year-on-year.

If this growth continues until the end of the year, the country is on track to reach $10 billion in seafood exports.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Vietnam shipped seafood worth $1.1 billion in October, marking the first time since June 2022 that the value of seafood exports fishing exceeded a billion dollars in a single month.

Truong Dinh Hoe, secretary general of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), noted that after four years of challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, regional conflicts and inflation, the global economic situation is gradually stabilizing.

Vietnamese seafood exports rebounded at the start of the year and are expected to accelerate further by the end of the year.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien stressed that while Vietnam maintains its export momentum, achieving $900 million in seafood shipments each in November and December, sales of the country’s seafood could exceed $10 billion this year.

From January to October, catfish exports increased 10 percent year-on-year, reaching $1.7 billion. Exports of shrimp and crabs jumped 20 percent and 59 percent, respectively.

“Shipments of shrimp and catfish performed well, driven by increased demand from the United States, China and other markets,” he noted.

Vietnam’s seafood shipments to its two biggest buyers, China and the United States, reached $1.5 billion each in the first ten months of the year.

China and the United States saw year-over-year increases of 37% and 31%, respectively, according to VASEP.

If the upward trend in seafood shipments to China continues, it is expected to overtake the United States to become Vietnam’s largest seafood importer by the end of 2024.

According to VASEP, small shrimp are mainly caught near shore by fishermen on small boats that are not required to have a license or be equipped with vessel monitoring systems.

Therefore, these small shrimps do not meet the export regulations of the European market.

Central Vietnam has a large volume of small-sized shrimp, which is in high demand among European customers.

VASEP proposed that the ministry consider listing small shrimp as a special case, which would make them eligible for shipment to Europe.

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