Many seafood enterprises are worried about the pandemic breaking out again in the West region.

According to Ms. Le Hang, Deputy Director of VASEP.PRO, after a deep decline for two consecutive months due to social distancing and Covid-19 prevention and control, with the easing of social distancing and reopening in localities to restore production, seafood export results in October showed positive signs, reaching US$918 million, nearly equivalent to the same period in 2020 and up 47% compared to September 2021.

Notably, many key export products grew again, such as tuna, squid, and octopus all increased by 18%, crabs increased by 13%, shrimp increased by 1.6%. This result showed that seafood export production was gradually stabilizing and recovering.

Particularly, pangasius exports still fell by 18%, revenue only reached US$139 million. Because of a lack of raw materials, production and processing of pangasius in localities were still in moderation due to the influence of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Regarding the market, in October 2021, seafood exports to the US recovered the most, increasing by 31%, to the EU by 9%, to South Korea by 20%, and to Canada by 17%. However, exports to China continued to fall deeply by 43%.

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers, by the end of October 2021, the country's seafood exports reached ÚS$7.1 billion, a slight increase of 2.4%. In which, shrimp reached US$3.2 billion, up 2.6%; tuna reached US$598 million, up 10%; octopus reached US$475 million, up 4.5%; pangasius reached US$1.2 billion, equivalent to the same period last year; other types of fish decreased by nearly 1% to US$1.36 billion. Particularly, bivalve mollusks still maintained a high growth rate of 39% after 10 months, reaching US$113 million.

In which, the US market had a high growth rate of 25%, with nearly US$1.7 billion; Japan accounted for 15% with US$1.08 billion, down 7%. China and the EU both accounted for 12% with a value of US$872 million, down 24% and US$864 million, up 7% over the same period last year. Exports to South Korea accounted for 9%, reaching US$643 million, a slight increase of 2% over the same period in 2020.

The results of seafood export in October showed that export production activities of enterprises were recovering. Many large-scale export enterprises in the Mekong Delta recovered quickly.

Typically, Sao Ta Food Joint Stock Company has restored production to 100%. From October 2021, the Southern provinces and cities eased social distancing measures in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, production and consumption of enterprises' products began to accelerate. Production of finished shrimp reached 2,507 tons, equaling 118% of the plan; General consumption reached US$23.9 million, equaling 105% over the same period in 2020. The enterprise's consumption of agricultural products more than doubled over the same period last year, reaching 157 tons.

However, currently, pandemic prevention and control work of seafood enterprises in the Mekong Delta is in a rather tense state due to signs of outbreaks in some provinces, especially localities with many repatriated workers.

Currently, many provinces have raised the level of pandemic prevention and control and have issued decisions on the temporary application of administrative measures at level 3 (high risk, corresponding to orange). This move will partly affect the production and export activities of seafood enterprises when they have just recovered.