Unlike a more market-driven commodity such as tilapia, the world of pangasius, also known as swai, is dictated largely by packers allowed to supply the U.S. market and the regulations placed on them, such as the newest anti-dumping tariffs.
In mid-January, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued the final results of its anti-dumping duty administrative review and in doing so, raised the duty to USD 0.97 (EUR 0.85) for 24 pangasius exporters in Vietnam, an increase over the USD 0.58 (EUR 0.51) amount set in July. A few other exporters are subject to a higher rate of USD 2.39 (EUR 2.10) per kilo.
“Every year it’s a different story (with pangasius),” said an East Coast distributor, “but it’s usually driven by anti-dumping.”
Because of the anti-dumping regulations, there are a limited number of packers who can do business in the United States, he explained.
What makes the current situation more interesting, he noted, is that the declining Euro is impacting consumption within Europe. “And when Europe lessens its ability to be a buyer of a commodity, sales fall.” But European packers aren’t able to just switch to another market, such as the United States.
According to statistics from the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), both the United States and the EU reduced the amount of pangasius imported from Vietnam through the majority of 2014. From January through November, EU imports totaled USD 313 million (EUR 275 million), which was down 11.4 percent. The United States, with USD 302.5 million (EUR 265.7 million) in imports, was down 13.9 percent for that same 11-month period.
Sometimes, said the distributor, “we see an avalanche of inventory come in that beat the [duty] announcement. But now we don’t see that as much because there are fewer players. There are no cowboys out there.”
Another national supplier to distributors, retailers and foodservice predicted a relatively stable market for the species during 2015. The only factors that could affect that are the duties and the ongoing efforts to reduce the internal moisture content of the fish.
A regulation on ice glazing and humidity levels of fillets — scheduled to go into effect 1 January 2015 — was delayed upon objections from exporters, who were concerned about its impact on price. The rule would have required no more than 10 percent glazing and 83 percent humidity.
Although the regulation was designed to improve the product, the distributor said quality has improved and he has seen double-digit growth for swai over the past five years. “It’s a strong item across all segments,” he said, with users of pollock, tilapia and catfish moving into swai.
Both the distributor and supplier have found prices to be at good levels with adequate supply. Prices for all sizes are in the USD 1.70 to 1.80 (EUR 1.49 to 1.58) range.
The only problem the species has, the distributor pointed out, is its name. Pangasius doesn’t roll off the tongue, and swai isn’t well known among consumers. “Tilapia has better name recognition,” he said. “But hopefully some day people will be as comfortable with swai as they are with tilapia.”
