Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’s aquatic export revenueis estimated to reach 778 million USD in November this year, pushing the totalearnings in the first 11 months of 2019 to about 8 billion USD.

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), the countrymay not hit its target of 10 billion USD in aquatic exports due to a drop inprices, fluctuations in supply and demand, and trade barriers.

VASEP General SecretaryTruong Dinh Hoe said the adjusted supply-demand balance in 2019 has pulledaquatic products’ prices down compared to previous years.

For example, tra fish pricesin the US market in 2019 fell to 2 USD per kilo from 4-5 USD per kilo in 2018,he said.

Hoe said that a number ofanti-dumping lawsuits against Vietnam in the US, the main market for Vietnameseaquatic products, were also among the factors leading to the drop in revenue.

Meanwhile, the Chinese markethas also seena strong shift to official trade, resulting in changes in demandfor aquatic products, thus affecting Vietnam’s shipments to the market.

At the same time, fiercecompetition from Indian and Indonesian shrimp exporters has caused difficultiesfor Vietnam as shrimp is the biggest earner of the country’s aquatic sector.

Export revenue from shrimp,one of the three major products of the sector besides tra fish and seafood, hassuffered a sharp drop in 2019 to only 3.4 billion USD, far below the target of4.2 billion USD.

However, Hoe said that when theEU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement becomes effective in 2020, Vietnamese shrimpwill see a brighter future in the European market. He advised domesticexporters to be well prepared to take advantage of the deal.

In the US market,anti-dumping issues are forecast to remain the major problem along withcompetition in price from India.

At the same time, tradingmethods in the Chinese market may be changed, thus Vietnamese firms should beprepared for the adjustment, said Hoe.


He noted that export revenueof tra fish is expected to stay stable at over 2 billion USD, which is short ofthe target of 2.4 billion USD for the whole year, while seafood is forecast toreach a record 3.6 billion USD.

Hoe also predicted that atarget of 10 billion USD in aquatic export revenue is feasible for 2020. Hesaid that shrimp prices in 2020 will face fewer difficulties from competition./.