Vietnamese clams and mussels are preferred by Americans over those from China.

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Processing and Export (Vasep), in the first six months of the year, the total export value of bivalve mollusks reached US$40.86 million, an increase of 1.6% compared to the same period in 2015. The EU, the US, and Japan are the three main importing markets for this product, accounting for 85% of the total export value. Among these three main markets, Vietnamese products such as clams and mussels are more popular in the US than those from China, Chile, and other countries.

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Specifically, in the first half of the year, exports of bivalve mollusks to the US reached $4.67 million, an increase of 78.3% compared to the same period last year. With strong growth for several months, the US has overtaken Japan as the second largest importer of this commodity, and in the future, there is a tendency to increase imports of clams from Vietnam, while decreasing imports of this product from major suppliers such as China and Chile.

In contrast to the upward trend, in Europe, Japan, and ASEAN, the export share of this product tended to decrease by around 4-12% compared to the same period in 2015.

In the first six months of the year, exports of bivalve mollusks to Europe reached $26.06 million, a decrease of 4.2% compared to the same period in 2015. Meanwhile, exports to Japan only reached $4.22 million, a decrease of 12.4%. Currently, Chinese businesses still dominate the Japanese market, accounting for 43-65% of the total import value.

Specifically for the ASEAN market, in the first half of the year, Vietnam only exported $1.79 million worth of goods, a decrease of 22.7% compared to the same period in 2015. According to some businesses, the reason for the export decline is the limited domestic supply of raw materials, leading businesses to focus on exporting goods to markets with better prices.

According to VNE