Seafood companies eye Australia as potential growth opportunity

Seafood companies eye Australia as potential growth opportunity

Australian customers are buying more seafood from Viet Nam, especially shrimp and molluscs.

Viet Nam is the third-largest seafood exporter to the Australian market, following New Zealand and China.

A report from baodientu.chinhphu.vn, a Government online newspaper, said that Australia buys US$1 billion of 200,000 tonnes of seafood each year from importers.

Of total seafood exports, Vietnamese shrimp exports have turned in the highest revenue.

Last year, Viet Nam earned $101 million from exporting shrimp to Australia, a year-on-year increase of nearly 26 per cent.

Shrimp accounted for 55 per cent of the total Vietnamese seafood export value to this market.

In the first 10 months of this year, shrimp export turnover rose 14 per cent, making Viet Nam one of the biggest shrimp exporters in Australia.

Along with shrimp, bivalve molluscs have also sold well.

While the number of exports had fallen in traditional markets like the US, sales have recently increased in Australia.

Export revenue of molluscs through mid-November rose 5.8 per cent year-on-year, to reach $1.4 million.

Experts said this revenue was remarkable as the value was down in four months of February, April, June and August by between 18.6 per cent and 93 per cent.

In other months, the number of exports of bivalve molluscs significantly surged.

For example, it rose by 146 per cent in January and 281 per cent in March. In the first half of October, it jumped by 241 per cent year-on-year.

With this result, Australia has attracted the attention of Vietnamese seafood exporters, especially with its tax incentives.

However, to win the market, experts said domestic exporters should diversify their products to improve competitiveness and ensure food hygiene and safety.

Exporters must also increase the number of promotions to advertise their products and trademarks.

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