Nam Viet Joint Stock Company (Navico) will resume exporting pangasius to the United States again after years of delay.
Navico has been seeking permission from the U.S. Department of Commerce to export to the United States again after halting shipments in the midst of the so-called “whitefish wars” that saw the U.S. raise trade barriers to pangasius from Vietnam.
The Long Xuyên, Vietnam-based firm said in its annual report that its first cargo of pangasius to the U.S. will be delivered in August 2022. A senior company official confirmed that target to SeafoodSource on 25 April.
The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) in its final review of the 16th period review (POR16) from 1 August, 2018 through 31 July, 2019, granted Navico an antidumping duty of zero percent for the period.
Beginning in 2002, Navico focused heavily on exporting pangasius to the U.S. and became the single-biggest exporter of pangasius in the U.S. in 2007. But it halted exports of pangasius to U.S. in 2014 as the U.S. moved to impose high antidumping duties on pangasius products from Vietnam, according to Navico.
Since then, Navico has branched into other industrial sectors. Navico and its South Korean partner, Amicogen, began work on a new collagen and gelatin factory in the Mekong Delta in December 2021. Navico expects to bring the first phase of the project into operation in July 2022, with a designed capacity of 800 MT per year of collagen and gelatin production annually.
Navico is also investing in other industrial sectors, such as organic feed, solar energy and real estate. It currently is capable of manufacturing up to 1,000 metric tons of aquafeed daily – more than sufficient supply its pangasius farms, and its processing facilities – which have a combined capacity of 1,050 MT daily – are supplied entirely with fish the company has raised itself.
According to its report, Navico said is targeting a profit before tax of VND 720 billion (USD 31.5 million, EUR 29.4 million) in 2022, up 4.8 times from 2021. Its 2022 sales target is set at VND 4.9 trillion (USD 214.7 million, EUR 200 million), 40 percent higher year-on-year.
Photo courtesy of Navico
