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Nation seafood export targets $4.5b
Viet Nam will likely miss its US$4.5 billion seafood export target this year, an official of the Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) recently announced.
A shortage of input materials and limited and high-interest fisheries loans were blamed for the shortfall.
The country still brought in $1.5 billion from seafood exports in the first five months of the year, an increase of 11 per cent over the same period last year, according to Nguyen Dinh Hoe, VASEP general secretary. He expects another $300 million from seafood exports in June.
"That means the export value could reach $1.8 billion, so the value may reach $4 billion this year."
Seafood export value will likely grow partially due to advantages from fluctuating exchange rates between the US dollar and Vietnamese dong, Hoe continued. Still, they likely won’t reach the target of $4.5 billion set by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
The target can not be met because producers have had problems getting capital to buy products, while products have also been lacking. Black tiger shrimp have proven especially volatile, and they represent a huge part of the national seafood export value.
Under the current situation, Hoe expects black tiger shrimp export will be down this year, and shrimp output will likely only meet 30-40 per cent of demand by domestic export seafood processors.
Over the long term, VASEP could import raw seafood for processing from Europe, South America and Africa to deal with the shortage.
Last year, Viet Nam gained $3.6 billion from seafood exports, importing $250 million in raw seafood material.
VNN
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