{"id":1354,"date":"2026-07-15T15:53:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T06:53:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vietnam-agri.com\/?post_type=industry_news&p=1354"},"modified":"2026-07-15T15:53:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T06:53:26","slug":"lobster-china-export","status":"publish","type":"industry_news","link":"https:\/\/vietnam-agri.com\/en\/industry_news\/lobster-china-export\/","title":{"rendered":"Live lobster nears US$1 billion: how China changed the way Vietnamese seafood earns"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vietnam's live lobster has come to just one step short of a billion-dollar item in export value. What is pushing it up is China's robust demand. The 2025 export was US$858 million in total (about 133 billion yen at a conversion of 155 yen to the dollar), most of it bound for China, carried \"live,\" shell on. For Japanese seafood buyers, it is a move that governs the international market and the course of supply for ise-ebi and spiny-lobster types, and a matter that connects directly to procurement plans.<\/p>\n

Chinese demand pushes up Vietnam's lobster exports<\/h2>\n

By the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) tally, 2025 lobster exports were US$858 million in total, of which US$845 million was to China. In other words, nearly all the sales flow to China. The momentum did not weaken into 2026 either: exports to China in January-May were US$506 million, up 44.3% year on year. In the same period, lobster accounted for 71% of the amount Vietnam sold to China as shrimp, becoming the lead that drives the growth of shrimp exports as a whole.<\/p>\n

What should be kept in mind here is that this is a story of \"farmed lobster.\" Vietnam's mainstay is green lobster (southern rock lobster type), small to medium in size, turning red when cooked. In color, size and price alike, it matches Chinese food culture, which favors red ingredients as auspicious.<\/p>\n

Why China buys them \"live\"<\/h2>\n

China is now the world's largest lobster importer. Its import value is projected to swell from US$1.2 billion in 2017 to US$3.9 billion (on the order of 600 billion yen) in 2025, more than tripling over these eight years. A feature of the market is an overwhelming preference for live seafood (live lobster) over frozen or processed goods. Here Vietnam's geographical advantage pays off. Because it shares a border, it can deliver live lobster in a short time and flexibly compared with competing origins such as Canada, the US, Australia, New Zealand and Mexico. For a product where freshness is at the center of value, the shortness of the transport distance becomes competitiveness itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Indicator<\/th>\nFigure<\/th>\nPeriod<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Total lobster export value<\/td>\nUS$858 million<\/td>\n2025<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Of which, to China<\/td>\nUS$845 million<\/td>\n2025<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Exports to China (up 44.3% year on year)<\/td>\nUS$506 million<\/td>\nJanuary\u2013May 2026<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
China's lobster import value<\/td>\nUS$1.2 billion to US$3.9 billion (projection)<\/td>\n2017 to 2025<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The rebuilding of pens is changing the quality of supply<\/h2>\n

Not only demand but the structure on the production side is moving too. In the origin of Khanh Hoa province, a move to replace the wooden raft-type pens that had been mainstream with highly durable HDPE (high-density polyethylene) pens is advancing. Khanh Hoa province's marine aquaculture abandoning wooden rafts and switching to HDPE pens<\/a>- in that effort, a demonstration in the Cam Ranh area was reported to have reached an average aquaculture profit margin of 112%. With a design strong against typhoons and able to withstand high offshore waves, the province has put forward a policy of expanding advanced marine aquaculture to 240 hectares by 2029.<\/p>\n

This \"rebuilding\" does not stop at mere equipment renewal. As the move offshore and the standardization of pens advance, the stability of output and the ease of history management rise. Vietnam has introduced its first national standard for marine aquaculture<\/a>, moving to fill the aquaculture industry's weakness that insurance and financing are hard to attach. From an importer's view, it is a change in the direction of raising the readability of supply by a notch.<\/p>\n

How should Japanese procurement staff read this move?<\/h2>\n

Honestly, it is difficult for Japanese buyers to ride directly on this live-lobster export. That is because the high-priced \"live\" segment is almost monopolized by geographically close China. But there are three implications.<\/p>\n

The first is a market view. As long as China buys up live seafood, the international market for spiny-lobster types tends to have a firm floor. The frozen tails and processed goods Japan sources cannot stay free of this demand pressure either. It is realistic to build the annual budget on the premise that the price floor rises.<\/p>\n

The second is the flip side of concentration risk. Nearly all of Vietnam's lobster export sales depend on China alone. If the Chinese side's quarantine policy or border-clearance operation changes, scenes can arise where inventory that has lost its destination temporarily flows to other markets. In such phases, there is a possibility that a spot opportunity comes around to Japanese buyers who can nimbly secure frozen and processed goods.<\/p>\n

The third is engagement with the supply network itself. With the introduction of HDPE pens and the national standard, Vietnamese seafood is beginning to have a blueprint for history management and quality. Japan's strength is not immediate import of fresh goods but rather taking in Vietnamese seafood through the under-exploited niche of processing<\/a>. An aquaculture network where the high-value-added know-how of live lobster has taken root has room to grow as a supply source for Japan too, such as primary processing of tails and boiled products.<\/p>\n

Ripple effects and what to watch next<\/h2>\n

That lobster has leapt to the lead of shrimp exports is also a sign that the center of gravity of Vietnamese fisheries as a whole is shifting from \"volume shrimp\" to \"high-unit-price live seafood.\" Live lobster for China draws investment to the origin, and that equipment and technology ripple out to the aquaculture of other species. What the Japanese procurement side should follow is, rather than the single-month export value itself, three points: (1) changes in China's clearance and quarantine operation, (2) the penetration rate of HDPE pens and the actual operation of the national standard, and (3) whether supply to Japan as frozen and processed goods comes online. The first thing to do is to confirm, once, with existing suppliers the progress of aquaculture standards and pen renewal. When the origin advances from the stage of \"live to China\" to \"processed to the world,\" the turn comes for Japanese sourcing to move.<\/p>\n

Sources<\/h2>\n