Vietnam’s pangasius exports to both the United States and China increased significantly in value in the first 10 months of this year, with the latter leapfrogging the EU to become exporters’ second most important market and the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) tipping it to take the top slot in 2017.
For the 10 months through October 2016, Vietnam exported USD 319.8 million (EUR 300.7 million) worth of pangasius products to the U.S. market, an increase of 22.7 percent year-on-year.
This trade now accounts for 23 percent of total pangasius exports from Vietnam and VASEP said there has been no negative effect thus far from the USDA catfish inspection program. But the trade body conceded that it expects exports to the market “to get more difficult” and that growth will slow next year as a result of the U.S. scheme and higher antidumping duties.
Meanwhile, pangasius exports to China and Hong Kong in the same 10-month period totaled USD 235.5 million (EUR 221.5 million), up 76 percent year-on-year as a result of high demand in the market. Its reasonable price level, according to the Vietnam Trade Promotion Office in Chongqing, China, is underpinning the species’ popularity. In this market, pangasius is widely used in fast food restaurants, hotels and canteens.
While the demand for pangasius has grown in both the U.S. and Chinese markets, the opposite can be said of the EU. Exports to the bloc for January through October amounted to USD 217.7 million (EUR 204.7 million), down 11.5 percent year-on-year. Of that, exports to the EU’s four largest buyers of pangasius – the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Spain and Germany – showed the year-on-year declines of 11.2 percent, 1.9 percent, 15.2 percent and 5 percent respectively.
Vietnam’s pangasius production in the first 10 months of this year amounted to 996,076 metric tons (MT), an increase of more than 9 percent year-on-year.
