Pangasius producers are benefiting from a strong U.S. dollar and lower fuel costs despite weaker growth in prices and tighter access to European markets. “We get more Dong when we convert the dollars back to local currency,” Le Hoang Nha, assistant sales manager at Fatifish Co., told SeafoodSource at Seafood Expo Asia.
Prices are down: trim is fetching USD 2.30/kg (fob) and untrimmed fish USD 1.70 (EUR 1.53)/kg. That’s down on USD 2.45 (EUR 2.20)/kg and USD 1.70 (EUR 1.53)/kg in 2014 according to Nha, whose company ships pangasius to Europe, Latin America and a growing customer base in the Middle East. While the first half of the year was good, there’s been a fall-off in demand in the second half of the year so far, something he attributes to global currency volatility. “This means we now have to do more promotions to get sales.”
Fatifish Co.’s key market is Holland but tighter government regulations have blocked imports into Germany, another key market. However, the company is having success reaching the Russian market through customers in Greece and Latvia who import from Vietnam and then resell to Russia. “The Russian government requires an approval number from us and that takes too much time and money to acquire,” explained Nha.
Based in Cao Lanh city, Fatifish had seen growing demand for pangasius fillets from China but Nha is now pessimistic because of the recent devaluation of the Chinese currency. Crucially, pangasius is cheaper than tilapia, he explained. “Also, we can do five or six types of fillets with pangasius but you can only do one or two types of tilapia fillet.
Consolidation is another feature of the current panga industry in Vietnam. “The industry is changing from a lot of small independent farmers because they lost money and now we see the emergence of very big farmers who are taking over the pond space abandoned by the small farmers.”
Small-time operators favored pangasius over shrimp because it’s easier to cultivate, explained Nha, whose company is five years in the processing business and now seeking more distributors abroad.
While Nha foresees rising demand in the food service and retail sector in China there isn’t much of a domestic market for pangasius. “Vietnamese consumers prefer whole fish, whereas you have to either fry or steam pangasius.”
