Pangasius broke onto the top 10 list of America’s favorite seafood items in 2009, and demand for the species hasn’t slowed since. In 2010, it gained a position, jumping from No. 10 to No. 9, with per-capita consumption reaching 0.405 pounds.
The United States accounts for just over 16 percent of Vietnam’s total pangasius exports.
According to the Vietnamese Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers, in the first six months of 2011, the United States imported 38,839 metric tons of pangasius valued at USD 135 million. That’s up 85.5 percent in volume and 105 percent in value from the same period last year.
Pangasius export prices through June to the United States peaked at USD 1.69 per pound, up from USD 1.40 per pound the previous June. Prices bottomed out in March at USD 1.48 per pound.
The average export price for the fish rose 12 percent, compared to the same period last year, to USD 1.59 per pound, during the first six months of 2011.
According to data from NOAA Fisheries, of the 65.6 million pounds of U.S. pangasius imports through the first five months of the year, Vietnam produced 94 percent.
China is the second largest exporter of frozen pangasius fillets to the U.S. market, shipping nearly 1.7 million pounds through May.
