Prices for basa (also known as catfish or pangasius) have risen 20 percent so far in 2017, while E.U. and U.S. bans on certain basa imports are diverting supply to China, according to a Chinese online journal and microblog covering the frozen foods industry.
“Because of the E.U. and U.S. bans, the producers in Vietnam have drastically reduced the amount of [basa] seedlings…this is leading to Vietnam enterprises seeing China as a major battleground for sales,” according to Dong Pin Gong Lue. “[Chinese] distributors should be aware, America has pollock and tilapia supply...This is a dangerous time for basa producers.”
The reported price rise highlights how much basa has become a popular input for convenience foods in China, with hot pot restaurants and fast food outlets in Chinese cities using the low-bone fish as a replacement for bony, low-price local species like carp. Outlets of 7-Eleven in Beijing also use basa for fish curry and other take away lunches.
Vietnamese basa remains price-competitive over tilapia in part because Vietnam’s farm wages are on average one-third of those paid in China. Key importers of pangasius in China include the east-coast based Hangzhou Jiu Wei Foodstuffs Co., which imports large batches of the fish through the port of Ningbo.
