Vietnam sets ambitious USD 9.5 billion seafood export target for 2024

Vietnam has high expectations for growing its global seafood exports in 2024, despite huge potential obstacles.

The Southeast Asian country expects to earn USD 9.5 billion (EUR 8.7 billion) from seafood exports in 2024, including USD 4 billion (EUR 3.7 billion) from shrimp exports, USD 1.9 billion (EUR 1.7 billion) from pangasius sales, and USD 3.6 billion (EUR 3.3 billion) from other seafood products.

In 2023, the country exported seafood worth USD 8.97 billion (EUR 8.24 billion) – down 17.8 percent from 2022 – which undershot its previously established target for the year of USD 10 billion (EUR 9.2 billion). Its seafood products were mainly sent to the U.S., which bought USD 1.56 billion (EUR 1.43 billion) worth of Vietnamese seafood – a decline of 26.9 percent. Japan bought USD 1.52 billion (EUR 1.4 billion), 11.2 percent lower year over year; China purchased USD 1.34 billion (EUR 1.23 billion), down 14.9 percent; South Korea bought USD 790.8 million (EUR 727 million), dropping 16.7 percent; and Australia purchased USD 313.9 million (EUR 288.6 million), which was down 13.8 percent, Vietnamese customs data showed.

One factor making analysts more bullish about Vietnamese seafood exports in 2024 is that shrimp demand in the U.S. market is gradually rebounding. But Vietnamese shrimp exporters are also expecting heightened barriers to entering the U.S. market due to an ongoing investigation by the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) and the likely implementation of antidumping duties, a move backed by the U.S. shrimp industry.