Vietnamese pangasius exporter Navico saw its the value of its exports tumble in the first two months of 2020 due to impacts from the coronavirus outbreak.
The company earned USD 15.9 million (EUR 14.3 million) from pangasius exports between January and February – down 25 percent from a year earlier – despite an increase of 5 percent in export volumes, Navico said in its February briefing on 27 March.
Major destinations for Navico’s pangasius in the first two months included ASEAN member states with USD 6.1 million (EUR 5.5 million) of exports, soaring 60 percent year-on-year; the E.U. with USD 3.7 million (EUR 3.3 million), up 17 percent; and Mexico USD 1.2 million (EUR 1.08 million), down 66 percent.
In February, Navico had made a quick shift to sending product to the E.U. and the ASEAN bloc to compensate for a sharp drop in sales to China. This translated in a hike of 21 percent in sales value in February. The value in exports to China (including Hong Kong) fell 87 percent year-on-year in the month, but rose 101 percent and 55 percent to ASEAN and E.U., respectively, the company said.
“In March, we [were] not able to ship much to China as their demand has not fully recovered yet. But shipments to ASEAN remained rather [good],” a representative of Navico told SeafoodSource on 30 March.
Like other exporters, Navico is finding it hard to export to the E.U. because of the rapid spread of the pandemic. E.U. ports are still open for cargoes from Vietnam, but low demand has forced Navico’s customers to temporarily suspend imports, the representative said.
Navico Chairman Doan Toi said in the statement that the COVID-19 pandemic has posed a major challenge for the company this year. But he said he expects demand from the Chinese market to recover in a few months to compensate for the decline in Europe. In addition, ASEAN and South America are potential markets that Navico will focus on to boost sales.
While many companies have had to suspend operations and reduce employees, Navico has been able to continue operating, but with lower capacity, Toi said. He said the company does not want to engage in layoffs if at all possible.
Photo courtesy of Navico
