Prices for pangasius material in Mekong Delta in Vietnam have increased recently due to rising demand for exports and lower domestic supply.
According to a 12 November report from the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), the farmgate prices of pangasius in Dong Thap Province are between VND 22,000 and VND 23,000 (USD 0.95 and USD 0.99, EUR 0.80 and EUR 0.84) per kilogram for pangasius sized between 0.7 kilograms and 0.8 kilograms, up between VND 2,000 and VND 3,000 (USD 0.09 and USD 0.13, EUR 0.07 and EUR 0.11) per kilogram from last year.
Data from Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade on 11 November also showed an increase in material prices. The ministry said as of 6 November, pangasius prices in An Giang Province were between VND 22,000 and VND 22,500 (USD 0.95 and USD 0.97, EUR 0.80 and EUR 0.85) per kilogram for fish between 0.7 kilograms and 0.9 kilograms in weight, up by between VND 1,300 and VND 1,500 (USD 0.05 and USD 0.06, EUR 0.04 and EUR 0.05) per kilogram from 2019.
The ministry noted that the material prices remained stable at around VND 18,500 to VND 19,000 (USD 0.79 to USD 0.82, EUR 0.67 to EUR 0.69) per kilogram for most of the June through September time period this year.
Both the ministry and VASEP attributed the price increases to higher demand from the end of the third quarter from export markets, especially China, including Hong Kong.
Currently there are 130 pangasius companies from Vietnam exporting their products to China, with TG Fishery, I.D.I Corp. and Godaco being the top exporters. Between 1 January and 15 October, these companies shipped pangasius worth USD 385.9 million (EUR 327.3 million) to China, down 20.6 percent from the same period in 2019, VASEP said.
The ministry said the limited supply of the fish has partly contributed to the surges in prices recently. Farmers have incurred losses from low prices for several months, forcing them to reduce farming activities and lower density at their farms.
Between 1 January and 30 September, Vietnam had 4,968 hectares of pangasius farming area, down 9 percent from 2019. Its output in the period also declined 6.4 percent from a year earlier to more than 1 million metric tons (MT).
Photo courtesy of Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers
