Vietnamese pangasius exports reached 39,000 metric tons valued at USD 135 million in the first half of 2011, up an impressive 85.5 percent and 105.5 percent, respectively, from the same period in 2010, according to the Vietnamese Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).
The United States accounts for just over 16 percent of total Vietnamese pangasius exports.
As for the average export price, it bottomed out in March at USD 3.19 per kilogram and peaked in May at USD 3.79, reported VASEP. For the first half of 2001, the average export price came to USD 3.51, up 12 percent from the same period in 2010.
The U.S. government isn’t due to release its seafood import figures for the first half of this year until Thursday. But, through May, U.S. imports of Vietnamese pangasius fillets were up nearly 54 percent from last year.
The increase in Vietnamese pangasius exports to the U.S. market may be tied to the anticipated transfer of inspection of domestic and imported catfish — and potentially pangasius — from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which when implemented is expected to slow the flow of product from Vietnam to the United States.
