Vietnam’s leading pangasius producer, Nam Viet Joint Stock Company (Navico), plans to produce 105,000 metric tons (MT) of pangasius from its biggest farm in Mekong Delta this year.
The company harvested the first pangasius out of operating ponds at Binh Phu, in An Giang Province, in February this year, Doan Phuong, of Navico’s investor relations department, said on 13 May.
Navico had planned to produce the first pangasius from the farm in October last year, and expected to produce a total volume of 20,000 MT by the end of 2019. But the harvesting plan was delayed and no pangasius from Binh Phu was harvested last year, Phuong told SeafoodSource.
As of 30 April, the company was operating 50 ponds raising pangasius breeds and 156 farming ponds at Binh Phu. Each pond is one hectare in width.
“We are going cautiously with the farming this year due to the uncertainty of the market,” Phuong said. Those uncertainties are largely related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Navico’s export value fell 19.7 percent year-on-year to USD 28.5 million (EUR 26.3 million) in the first four months, mainly due to the global outbreak of the coronavirus. Its sales in the period declined in most major markets including the European Union with USD 5.5 million (EUR 5 million), down 26 percent year-on-year; China (including Hong Kong) with USD 3.3 million (EUR 3 million), 32 percent lower year-on-year; and Mexico with USD 2.1 million (EUR 1.9 million), down 67 percent. ASEAN was the only market that saw an increase in sales over the January through April period, jumping 16 percent to USD 10.5 million (EUR 9.7 million).
According to Navico, Binh Phu is the biggest pangasius farm in Vietnam.
Navico began work at Binh Phu on 8 January, 2019. The company said at the time it would invest VND 4 trillion (USD 170 million, EUR 157 million) to build the project, which will cover 600 hectares in An Giang Province in Mekong Delta, home to much of Vietnam’s pangasius farming sector.
The project will include 150 hectares of ponds growing high-quality pangasius breeds, which is expected to provide 360 million fries each year to Navico’s and other production farms in the region. The remaining 450 hectares of farms at the facility will produce about 200,000 MT of pangasius for exports, Navico said, adding that the project will apply GlobalG.A.P. standards.
Photo courtesy of Navico
