Seafood, fruit, rice exports to grow towards years end

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) is predicting strong increases in the export value of seafood, fruit and rice towards year’s end.

Fruit supply is abundant

Demand for seafood is expected to grow an average 10-20 percent monthly from now until year’s end, especially by importers from major markets, such as the US, the EU, Japan and the Republic of Korea (RoK). In addition to growing demand, other favorable conditions are expected to help Vietnam increase seafood exports. These include production and marketing difficulties facing Vietnam’s competitors and lowered US anti-dumping taxes on Vietnamese shrimp and tra fish.

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), shrimp and tra fish exporters have detected positive signals from the US - one of the major importers of Vietnamese seafood. “The US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has recognized the equivalence of Vietnam’s pangasius control system to that of the US. This will contribute to promoting the image of Vietnamese tra fish in the US and other importing markets,” VASEP Secretary General Truong Dinh Hoe said.

In recent years, anti-dumping taxes and the Farm Bill have been major barriers to Vietnamese shrimp and tra fish exports to the US. Therefore, lower taxes are expected to contribute to the realization of the US$8.9 billion target set for seafood exports this year.

Fruit exporters are also seeing brighter prospects towards year’s end. The harvest season of various kinds of fruit, such as durian, rambutan, mangosteen, jackfruit, mango, dragon fruit, watermelon, grapefruit and banana, has yielded abundant supply. Intensive trade promotion, along with supply, are forecast to help Vietnam increase 2018 fruit export value by 15 percent compared with 2017.

Rice exports are expected to reach US$6.15 million tonnes in volume and US$3.15 billion in value by year’s end, up 5.7 percent and 19.6 percent, respectively, compared with 2017.

According to the MoIT, Vietnamese rice exporters are picking up positive signals from Indonesia and the Philippines. The Philippines is expected to import large volumes of rice through open international bidding and government contracts. The RoK might also invite bids for rice exports.

Truong Ba Sy, Chairman of the Board and General Director of the Tan Long Group Joint Stock Company, said that despite its strict requirements in terms of quality, the RoK has very high demand for rice imports. Tan Long has surpassed Chinese, Thai and Australian companies to win bids for export of more than 151,000 tonnes of high-quality rice to this market since the beginning of 2018.

The MoIT forecast Vietnam’s 2018 export value would grow 10-12 percent compared with 2017, with farm produce and seafood exports expected to reach US$27.45 billion, up 5.3 percent.