The Republic of Korea (RoK) remains the largest consumer of Vietnamese squid and octopus, with turnover reaching nearly US$46 million as of mid-March, representing an increase of 15% on-year and accounting for 42% of the country’s squid and octopus exports.

According to information provided by the VASEP, Japan's nuclear wastewater discharge has reduced the RoK's demand for seafood imports from the Far East nation.

Vietnamese squid and octopus exports to the RoK are therefore anticipated to continue to grow positively moving forward as the ban on importing Japanese seafood into China has yet to be lifted.

Furthermore, Japan is the second largest importer of Vietnamese squid and octopus, accounting for 26%. As of mid-March, the export of these products to this market dropped by 16% to US$25 million against the same period from last year.

China and Hong Kong (China) are the country’s third largest export markets with exports to this market surging by 32% to US$11 million against the same period from last year.

The Chinese market tends to focus on imports such as dried squid, cuttlefish, frozen cleaned whole cuttlefish, frozen sorted squid, frozen tempura breaded squid, frozen cut octopus, and frozen cleaned whole octopus.

The average price of frozen Vietnamese octopus exports to China ranged between US$2.3 and US$5.3 per kilo, while the export price of frozen squid stood at US$1.9 to US$3.6 per kilo during the reviewed period.

Source:VOV