Seafood exports plummeted in the first half of August, 2021

Seafood exports plummeted in the first half of August, 2021

Seafood exports grew well in the first 7 months of this year, but dropped sharply in the first half of August due to Covid-19 in southern provinces and cities.

Seafood exports in the first half of August dropped sharply due to Covid-19. Photo:  Le Hoang Vu

According to the Import-Export Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade), in the first half of August 2021, Vietnam's seafood exports reached $263.8 million, down 41% compared to the second half of July 2021 and down 30.1% compared to the same period in 2020.

Accumulated from the beginning of the year to August 15, 2021, Vietnam's seafood export turnover reached 5.2 billion USD, up 9.8% over the same period in 2020.

Thus, Vietnam's seafood exports in the first half of August 2021 were strongly impacted when the Covid-19 epidemic broke out, forcing Ho Chi Minh City and many southern provinces and cities to apply Directive 16, affecting production and export of seafood.

Previously, in July 2021, the country's seafood export reached US$853.77 million, up 0.56% compared to June 2021 and up 7.88% compared to July 2020.

Generally, in the first 7 months of 2021, Vietnam's seafood exports reached US$4.977 billion, up 13.27% over the same period in 2020, accounting for 2.67% of Vietnam's total export value of goods.

Ms. Le Hang, Deputy Director of VASEP.PRO Center, said that as of mid-July, the situation of seafood production and export was still on a good growth momentum.

However, from the second half of July, the application of social distancing directives, the production of raw materials and seafood processing slowed down markedly.

With the requirement of "3 on-site" production and processing in 19 provinces and cities heavily affected by the Covid-19 epidemic, only about 30% of businesses can follow this method, with a decrease in capacity from 30 to 70% depending on each business.

Specifically, most southern provinces and cities have required businesses to only maintain operations when they ensure the conditions of "3 on-site" and "1 road - 2 locations" to prevent and control the spread of infectious diseases to factories and industrial zones.

But in fact, up to now, only about 30% of seafood enterprises in the southern provinces can ensure the "3 on-site" condition and the number of workers that can be mobilized only accounts for 30-60% of the total number of employees.

The average production capacity has decreased to only 40-50% compared to before. It is estimated that the overall capacity of the whole region will decrease to only 30-40%. 

Meanwhile, fishery materials mobilized for processing - export only reach about 40-50% compared to available raw materials. Materials, accessories, packaging... for seafood processing also shrunk, reducing supply capacity by 50%.

While production has been reduced, many orders have been delayed or lost, the costs for businesses to ensure "3 on-site" have skyrocketed and are creating great pressure. 

Ms. Le Hang said that the shipment in July may still use raw materials stored before, so the statistical results have not yet reflected the declining trend, but compared to previous months, the growth rate is still significantly lower. With pangasius, tuna, squid and octopus products, exports have been sluggish since July.

The decline in production over the past 1 month will certainly lead to a sharp decrease in seafood export turnover in August compared to previous months and a decrease compared to the same period last year.

In particular, the pangasius industry suffered the biggest loss because more than half of the pangasius factories were shut down in the past time.

Shrimp and tuna exports may fall less than pangasius. Seafood processing and exporting businesses are concentrated in Ho Chi Minh City and the Southeast provinces, so seafood exports will certainly decrease sharply compared to last month and compared to August 2020.

Source: nongnghiep.vn, SEABINA GROUP's translation