In early 2026, Vietnamese tilapia exports surged by more than 300%, reflecting a notable shift in the market. This shift also shows Brazil emerging as the leading destination. Meanwhile, the United States continues to expand its role in the supply chain.
In January 2026, Vietnam’s tilapia exports reached approximately 15 million USD. Accordingly, they marked a sharp increase of 334% compared to the same period in 2025. This sudden growth reflects an expanding market trend in Vietnam’s tilapia industry. Moreover, it also indicates a notable shift in consumption structure across regions.
Among individual markets, Brazil unexpectedly rose to the leading position. Specifically, the export value reached 8 million USD in the first month of the year. This accounted for up to 56% of Vietnam’s total tilapia export value. As a result, it is considered a significant breakthrough, showing rapidly increasing import demand in the South American market.
The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) assessed that this is a clear leap forward. In addition, it highlights strong import demand growth in the South American market. This growth is mainly driven by Brazilian consumer preferences. In particular, consumers in this market favor fillet products or cut fish portions for home cooking. These preferences align well with Vietnam’s strength in raw material-based products.
Vietnamese tilapia exports
Ranked second among import markets, the United States recorded export value of approximately 3 million USD in January 2026. This accounted for 21% of Vietnam’s total tilapia exports. Compared to December 2025, Vietnamese tilapia exports to this market saw a slight decline. However, this decrease is considered cyclical in nature.
According to seafood industry experts, in the fourth quarter of 2025, U.S. importers increased purchases to meet consumption demand during the year-end holiday season. As a result, import volumes typically tend to slow down in the first month of the year. Nevertheless, in the long term, the U.S. is still regarded as a relatively stable demand market for Vietnamese tilapia.
The next positions in Vietnam’s top five tilapia export markets were Saudi Arabia, with export value reaching 791,000 USD. The Dominican Republic reached 503,000 USD and Japan reached 372,000 USD. Although the scale remains modest, all of these markets recorded positive growth, indicating significant room for further expansion.
By regional grouping, the Middle East reached 948,000 USD in January 2026, surging by 1,239% year-on-year. Meanwhile, Vietnamese tilapia exports to the European Union (EU) reached 764,000 USD, increasing by 276%.
Notably, consumption trends in the U.S. and EU are increasingly shifting toward value-added, deeply processed tilapia products. These products are convenient and time-saving to prepare. They align well with the fast-paced lifestyle in major urban areas and create room for businesses to invest further in deep processing.
Alongside the breakthrough of traditional markets, another notable factor in Vietnam’s tilapia industry landscape is the increasingly prominent role of the U.S. in the global whitefish supply chain.
Vietnamese tilapia factory
In early 2026, the U.S. announced a plan to invest approximately 15.2 million USD in Vietnam’s tilapia industry over the next five years. This investment is likely to focus on expanding farming scale, improving product quality, and strengthening processing and export capacity.
Under the plan, the long-term goal is to raise Vietnam’s tilapia export value above 1 billion USD, with output of around 1.21 million tons. This is a strategic move to build a stable whitefish supply source for the U.S. market. It also aims to take advantage of cost benefits and lower import tariffs compared to some other countries.
In fact, the U.S.’s “pulling role” in Vietnam’s tilapia sector had already emerged before the investment announcement. In 2025, Vietnamese tilapia exports grew by 141% year-on-year, with exports to the U.S. rising by as much as 173%.
Notably, frozen tilapia fillets have become a key growth driver. This reflects the increasingly strong alignment between Vietnam’s processing capabilities and U.S. consumer demand.
Beyond trade aspects, the U.S. involvement links to multiple value chain factors, from feed systems and production standards to deep-processing technologies. This helps Vietnam’s tilapia industry gradually improve standardization and move toward becoming a stable regional tilapia supply hub.
On the other hand, the shift in U.S. demand toward Vietnamese tilapia enterprises is also creating noticeable impacts on China’s tilapia market.
For many years, China’s tilapia price cycle has mainly been driven by domestic supply and demand dynamics. However, from 2025 to early 2026, despite a decline in stocking volumes and signs of tightening supply, tilapia prices in China have remained low and difficult to recover.
The main reason lies in exports. Chinese tilapia currently faces a tariff of around 55% when entering the U.S. market, significantly reducing its competitiveness. As U.S. import demand shifts toward Vietnam, production cuts in China no longer generate the same price-support effect as before.
As a result, China’s tilapia price cycle is becoming flatter, with a narrower range of fluctuation. However, experts believe that Vietnam cannot fully replace China in terms of overall production scale. China still maintains advantages in large-scale output, processing systems, and product diversification.
What is changing is not existing market share, but the flow of new global demand. Additional orders from importers are increasingly shifting toward Vietnam, while China is facing prolonged price pressure.
Vietnamese source: https://congthuong.vn/ca-ro-phi-viet-nam-tang-manh-xuat-khau-but-toc-tai-thi-truong-brazil-va-my-445471.html
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