Vietnamese pangasius exporters continued to focus more on their emerging markets in Asia in the first quarter of 2018 amid difficulties in the European Union and the United States.
Vietnam exported pangasius volumes worth USD 438.2 million (EUR 367.9 million) in total during January-March, up 18 percent from a year earlier, according to data from Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).
Of the total, the value of the shipments to China and Hong Kong (counted as one market) rose 45 percent year-on-year to USD 101.1 million (EUR 84.9 million). Exports to the biggest market for Vietnamese pangasius are expected to keep rising later this year, VASEP said.
Shipments to the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Vietnam is a member, will likely gain momentum this year, VASEP said. The value of Vietnam’s exports to the bloc jumped 56.5 percent from 2017 to USD 46.7 million (EUR 39.2 million) in the first quarter with big increases seen in three major markets – Thailand (up 97.9 percent year-on-year), Singapore (up 26.8 percent) and the Philippines (32.7 percent higher than Q1 2017).
The U.S. remained the second-biggest buyer of Vietnamese pangasius in the first three months, with export value touching USD 75 million (EUR 63 million), up 22.7 percent from the same period last year. But ASEAN is likely to replace the U.S. to be the second-largest import market for Vietnamese pangasius in the near future if the U.S. imposes more barriers to prevent the fish from entering their market, VASEP said.
The E.U. was the only major market that saw a decline in export value in the first quarter. Vietnam shipped pangasius volumes worth USD 41 million (EUR 34.4 million) in the period, down 17.7 percent year-on-year, as the Vietnamese fish continued to face technical and commercial barriers in this market, according to VASEP.
Vietnamese pangasius processors are being forced to diversify the markets for their products, including a greater focus on Asia, but they still consider the U.S. and E.U. their most important markets, VASEP said.
