Cuttle fish, octopus exports fall in 2013

The Viet Nam Association of Exporters Producers (VASEP) reports that the total export value of that sea life saw a year-on-year reduction of 14.4 per cent to US$360.5 million for the first ten months of this year.— Photo baocongthuong

HA NOI (Biz Hub)— Viet Nam's export value of cuttle-fish and octopus for the first ten months of 2013 fell to the lowest rate in the 10-month period due to the global economic crisis.

The reduction in export value was due to slow business in the three key export markets of Japan, South Korea and the EU, accounting for 75 per cent of the nation's total exports of the marine life, the association said.

Many cuttle fish and octopus exporters were worried about their exports, because customers reduced orders and volume, the report said.

Local cuttle fish and octopus exporters said, during the first ten months orders from the EU were sometimes reduced by 50-60 per cent against the same period last year.

Also, cuttle fish and octopus exports to South Korea, the largest export market for Vietnamese cuttle fish and octopus products, also dropped 9 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Meanwhile, exports of those products to Japan increased 3.7 per cent in value in January, but fell between 7.9 per cent and 54.3 per cent for the nine months from February to September, the association said.

Shellfish exports

The association also reported that shellfish exports to most markets over the past 11 months have earned $63.565 million – a slight decrease from last year's same period figure.

According to VASEP, the US is now the third largest importer of shellfish products from Viet Nam, after the EU and Japan, due to a sharp decline of 23 per cent to $4.512 million since early this year.

In the reviewed period, the US mainly imported processed products worth $3.4 million, accounting for 77.8 per cent of its total shellfish imports from Viet Nam.

Viet Nam's fresh and frozen shellfish exports to the US in the past 10 months dropped 20.6 per cent and 27.1 per cent, respectively, compared to the same period last year. — VNS