"Long-term" calculation for seafood export

(Baonghean) -Despite its potential advantages, the province’s seafood exports are still facing many difficulties. Export turnover is small and unsustainable, and so far, there has been no strong enough solution to boost this product.

Nghe An is said to have potential for marine economy with a coastline of 82 km, a sea area of ​​4,230 square nautical miles, along the coast there are 6 estuaries (Cua Hoi, Cua Lo, Lach Van, Lach Thoi, Lach Quen, Lach Con). In addition, along the coast there are 3,500 hectares of brackish water surface used for aquaculture. However, the export turnover of aquatic products is still not commensurate with its position as a "key export item" and the potential of the province; there is no close connection between production, processing and market.

According to statistics compiled by the Department of Industry and Trade, in 2013, seafood export turnover reached 22 million USD. In 2014, the turnover of this item decreased sharply, reaching only 10 million USD. In the first 5 months of 2015, seafood export turnover in the province reached nearly 7 million USD (with more than 4,000 tons of output), of which, Xuri Viet Trung Seafood Processing and Exporting Company Limited with nearly 6 million USD, the remaining small amount was carried out by Phuong Mai Enterprise (Hoang Mai).

Mr. Vo Minh Tuan - Deputy Head of Import-Export Management Department, Department of Industry and Trade, with favorable natural conditions for fishing and aquaculture, the relatively high and stable world market demand are advantages for the province's seafood export. However, in reality, the export value of this item is very modest, unstable; the products are monotonous. The quality management system and investment in packaging, trademark registration, and origin of goods are still weak. Most processed products have low economic value, there are no high-value products and brands in the domestic and export markets.

Van Phan Seafood Joint Stock Company - Dien Ngoc - Dien Chau district, with the Van Phan fish sauce brand has been affirmed in the market, the product consumes about 2 million liters of fish sauce each year, but in general, the packaging design is not diverse, so exporting is still a difficult problem. In 2012, for the first time in Nghe An, a batch of Van Phan fish sauce with a quantity of 1,800 liters was exported to the Malaysian market, but until now, this "miracle" has not been repeated.

Mr. Vo Van Dai - Director of the company said, besides the domestic market, we have a focus on export, but it is not easy. To export fish sauce to foreign markets, in addition to strict requirements on hygiene and food safety, the fish sauce must be delicious, fragrant, of high quality, and have the required protein content. Therefore, in order to meet market requirements, the company is currently investing about 500 million VND to install a packaging line.

Although the brackish water aquaculture area is relatively large, aquaculture products are not yet on the province's annual export list.

In fact, the province's seafood products have not been exported to the EU, US, and Japanese markets... because these markets have strict requirements for controlling chemical residues, food hygiene and safety, preservation techniques, etc., while seafood businesses are all small enterprises, with weak machinery and equipment for production, processing, and preservation. That is why the number of enterprises participating in official seafood exports in Nghe An is very small, currently only 2 enterprises, Xuri Viet Trung CBPP Co., Ltd. and Phuong Mai Co., Ltd. have exported goods.

Previously, in the province, there were 2 large-scale frozen seafood processing companies: Nghe An II Seafood Import-Export Joint Stock Company with a capacity of 8-10 tons of products/day, meeting the standards for export to demanding markets such as the EU, the US, etc. and Nghe An Seafood Import-Export Joint Stock Company with a capacity of 5-6 tons/day, but currently, Nghe An Seafood Import-Export Joint Stock Company has been dissolved, Nghe An Seafood Import-Export Joint Stock Company II is operating in a difficult situation.

At the end of 2013, Royal Foods Group of Thailand started construction of a canned fish processing factory (Royal Foods Nghe An) with 2 production lines with a capacity of over 100 tons of fish/day. The province's seafood exports are expecting this project, but currently the investor is implementing the construction items according to the investment registration, and there are no products on the market yet.

Cua Lo fishermen prepare goods for export to China

According to the reflection of enterprises, the source of aquatic raw materials in the province is still fragmented, not enough to meet large orders; The types of aquatic products exported through official channels are still monotonous. Regarding this issue, Mr. Le Thai - Director of CBPP Xuri Viet Trung Co., Ltd. shared: The product of the enterprise is fishmeal exported to the Chinese market. In the first 5 months of this year, the export turnover of the enterprise reached 6 million USD. In 2014, the turnover reached 10 million USD, striving to reach 15 million USD this year. However, the current difficulty is the lack of goods for export processing. The main raw materials are trash fish, herring, anchovies, and spotted fish, but many times in the area there is not enough for processing, so it has to be collected from Quang Binh and Ha Tinh. "The output is not difficult, all the quantity is consumed, but the problem is the lack of raw materials. For example, we are currently having to stop production because there is no fish" - Mr. Thai said.

Mr. Nguyen Trong Hung - Director of Nghe An Trade Promotion Center said: Enterprises "complain" about lack of orders but when there are orders, they cannot fulfill them. We have participated in trade promotion activities to Malaysia and Singapore, but all the connected enterprises are not interested because they do not have goods, do not have enough quantity and cannot meet the preservation requirements... In the area, there is a lack of enterprises that have developed a systematic export strategy, most of them only buy orders but have not proactively surveyed market demand to orient their business in the long term. On the other hand, the province's enterprises have not met the requirements of large markets, so the province's official exports are mainly fishmeal for livestock farming. A quantity of seafood, mostly specialties (white pomfret, shrimp, crab...) is exported through unofficial channels.

Currently, the planning of raw material areas serving the agricultural, forestry and fishery processing industry has been built and approved. The province has also had a policy of focusing investment on a number of export products through a number of programs and projects serving exports such as tidal clam farming, shrimp farming, tilapia farming, but these products are still absent from the province's export list. The turnover achieved in the first 5 months of 2015 was mainly fishmeal; Nghe An's seafood is currently only exported to a few markets such as China, Laos, and Malaysia.

In recent years, aquaculture has become a profession that brings high economic efficiency per unit area, attracting many people to participate in aquaculture and production in coastal districts and towns. The quality and efficiency of aquaculture and aquaculture exploitation are increasing; the forms of aquaculture and aquaculture objects are increasingly diverse. The total annual aquaculture output has grown quite well but the export turnover is still small. According to the plan, in 2015, 1,500 tons of various aquatic products will be exported, reaching a turnover of 15 million USD. This is not a difficult goal to achieve, but to fully exploit the potential advantages and sustainably develop the aquaculture and seafood processing industry, it requires synchronous solutions from the stages of aquaculture, exploitation to create raw materials, processing and food hygiene and safety, market search, and the connection between managers, businesses and farmers and exploiters. The industry and trade sector and the aquaculture sector must consider the "long term"; Clearly identify specific export seafood groups, from which to have plans, development strategies and concentrated investment, avoiding dispersion and fragmentation.

Thu Huyen