January seafood export is estimated to reach $644m

According to the General Statistic Office of Vietnam, the country takes in USD 3 billion from exports of forestry, agricultural and seafood products, equally to 84.3% of the same period last year. The aquaculture output has kept its growth.

The seafood output was estimated to reach 502.3 thousand tons in January 2020, up 1.7% from last year. Fish output was 379.9 thousand tons, up 1.3%; shrimp was 47.2 thousand tons, up 6.1% and other species was 75.2 thousand tons, up 1.2%.

The country took in 259.9 thousand tons from aquaculture, up 2.9% from last year with fish output reaching 194.4 thousand tons (+1.6%), shrimp reaching 36.7 thousand tons (-0.9%). In January, shrimp farmers focused on harvesting to meet the growing demand in the run-up to Tet Holiday. Output of giant tiger shrimps was 12.8 thousand tons, up 5.8% and white leg shrimp was 21.7 thousand tons, up 9.6%.

The wild-caught species reached 242.4 thousand tons, up 0.5% as compared to the same period last year, with a total of 185.5 thousand tons of fishes (+1%), 10.5 thousand tons of shrimp (-0.9%) and 46.4 thousand tons of other species (-1.1%). The exploited marine species reached 229.4 thousand tons, up 0.6% with exploited fish being 176.9 thousand tons (+1.1%) and shrimps being 9.5 thousand tons (-1%).

The export value of seafood is estimated to reach $644m in the first month of the year, equally to 87.5% of 2019. Trade surplus of the agriculture industry is estimated to reach $266.9m in January, equally to 32.8% as compared to the same period last year.