Seafood market in 2012: high demand, short supply mean opportunities for Vietnam
Demand up, supply short
According to FAO, seafood is the kind of food which has been selling best with 102 billion dollars worth of products consumed in 2008. The organization has predicted that from now to 2015, the seafood consumption per capita around the globe would increase by 0.8 percent per annum, while the total demand for seafood products would increase by 2.1 percent per annum.
Meanwhile, the supply is short to satisfy the market demand. Japan’s fisheries have been threatened after the earthquake and tsunami, Thailand’s and Vietnam’s shrimp have suffered due to floods and epidemics. Meanwhile, catfish industry has suffered from the sharp input cost increases.
According to the Secretary General of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers VASEP, a lot of the gold stores in Bangkok, Thailand have suffered from the heavy floods, which would only be able to resume their operation after some more time. This would certainly badly affect Thailand’s shrimp export in 2012.
Meanwhile, other shrimp exporters such as China, Indonesia, are also facing difficulties. China is experiencing a cold weather period which badly affects the productivity, Indonesia is facing epidemics. Meanwhile, in the US, EU and Japan, the biggest shrimp consumers, the domestic shrimp supply has been forecast to be low.
As for catfish, in 2011, the floods in Mississippi, one of the four states in the US which breed catfish, have made the cultivation area decrease by 39 percent.
Farmed seafood favored
A recent report showed that in 2010, the cultivated seafood output of the world increased by 60 percent, from 32.4 million tons to 52.5 million tons in 2000-2008. It is expected that in 2012, the aquaculture would satisfy more than 50 percent of the total consumption.
While the volume of seafood exploited worldwide has been decreasing amid the increasing population, aquaculture is believed to have great potentials in the future, which can satisfy the increasingly high demand for high quality and safe products.
Farmed seafood products have helped improve the food security in many regions in the world. However, aquaculture develops at different levels in the world. Currently, Asia- Pacific is considered the biggest influential region in the world in terms of aquaculture. Of the 15 biggest aquaculture countries in the world, 11 belong to Asia Pacific.
China is leading in terms of carp farming, while Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, India have advantages in medium and small size shrimp, and Norway and Chile are leading in salmon production.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, it is expected that the total seafood output in 2012 would reach 5.35 million tons, including 2.2 million tons of seafood to be exploited, 3.15 million tons of farmed products, while the export revenue may reach 6.5 billion dollars.
As for shrimp, Thai companies have been boosting exports to the US. However, the US importers fear that the floods may increase the food hygiene threat to the exports. Experts believe that this is really a great opportunity for Vietnam to increase the exports of shrimp to the US.
The US also proves to be a big consumer for Vietnam’s tra fish. A lot of Vietnamese companies have enjoyed the anti-dumping tax rates of 0-0.02 percent instead of 2.44-4.22 percent, which is really a favorable condition for them to boost exports.
Le Van Quang, General Director of Minh Phu Group, also said that the 6.5 billion dollars in export turnover proves to be within reach.
