Pangasius exports still have both gladness and anxiety

China is currently the largest pangasius export market of Vietnam with about 24% market share. Photo: N.Thanh.

Consecutive difficulties

According to the report of the Department of Aquaculture – Directorate of Fisheries (MARD), from the beginning of the year, the pangasius industry has faced many difficulties. It is because of the pangasius fingerling crisis and barriers from the import markets. Specifically, in the United States market, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) has announced that nine pangasius companies in the group of individual tax rates are subjected to a record anti-dumping duty of 3.87-7.74 USD/kg. This caused difficulties for export activities. In addition, regarding the requirements of the Farm Bill Act, the US Department of Agriculture has also shortened the equivalence assessment period, and conducted field inspections of Vietnamese pangasius. On the EU market, pangasius exports have continued to decline. In addition, the Saudi market has paused imports of Vietnamese seafood products, including pangasius. In China, although China is the leading market for Vietnamese pangasius products, this country is also likely to be a potential pangasius supplier to the world. This is a great barrier for the pangasius industry in the future.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Truong Dinh Hoe, Secretary General of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), said that each year India raises about 650,000 tons of pangasius, Bangladesh raises 450,000 tons, Indonesia raises 110,000 tons,… China has also raised and harvested 10,000 tons of pangasius in Hainan, with low density and low cost. "This shows that China is able to become a potential pangasius supplier in the world. Therefore, the authorities as well as business community need to come up with solutions to protect production, maintain Vietnamese pangasius brand in the world market. The pangasius industry also needs to focus on improving quality, towards sustainability in order to increase its competition," Mr. Hoe emphasized.

A representative of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development added: Recently, some Romanian websites reported inaccurate information about Vietnamese pangasius, which also has had a negative impact on the export of Vietnamese pangasius to this market. Although Romania is a small market for Vietnamese pangasius exports, fake information is a great concern because it can be easily posted on social networks leading to loss of control, negatively affecting not only Vietnamese pangasius export to Romania but also to other countries. Currently, VASEP is continuing to monitor and investigate the facts through the Vietnamese Commercial Counselor in Romania for timely preventive measures, avoiding damage to export activities and the image of national strategic products.

Can reach over 2 billion USD

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) pointed out that despite facing many difficulties, thanks to the timely guidance of the Government, MARD, local leaders as well as the participation of people and business community, the production and export of pangasius has been growing well since the beginning of the year. The price of fingerlings and raw material pangasius continues to maintain high growth. Up to the end of the first 7 months, pangasius exports reached nearly 1.2 billion USD, up 19% over the same period last year. The pangasius exports to main markets such as China, United States, EU, ASEAN grew over 2 digits. In particular, the exports of pangasius to China increased the most with 41% over the same period last year and accounted for more than 24% market share.

According to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong, in this year, the pangasius export turnover is forecasted to make a breakthrough with the figure of over 2 billion USD. However, there is a lot of work to do to develop this sector. Specifically, localities must re-plan production from breeding, feeding, farming, processing to exporting; diversify products, prioritize value added goods, diversify export markets…

Around the story of pangasius export, Mr. Duong Nghia Quoc, Chairman of Vietnam Pangasius Association said that one of the important solutions to increase the competitiveness of pangasius is to build a line of high quality fillets and develop many value added items. "In the long term, we should study the formation of a fishery logistics center for the Mekong Delta in Can Tho, for meeting the demands of production, circulation of goods in the country and import and export. This international-standards logistics center will ensure the quality of Vietnam pangasius products when participating in the international supply chain…," said Mr. Quoc. Some experts pointed out that for pangasius management, instead of managing each stage of the production and consumption chain by many agencies as we do now, a unified and comprehensive management agency in the form of chain should be formed...

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development: Aquaculture production in August is estimated at 362 thousand tons, up 7.4% over the same period last year, bringing the total output in the first 8 months estimated at 2,532 thousand tons, up 6.6% over the same period.

For pangasius, in August, the pangasius prices are stable at high levels. Households are re-raising this kind of fish, leading the increase of farming area. Pangasius production in Mekong Delta provinces in the first 8 months was estimated at 931.6 thousand tons, up 9.5% over the same period last year. In comparison with the same period last year, some key pangasius provinces with great output included: Dong Thap reached 326.8 thousand tons, up 7.7%; An Giang reached 226.8 thousand tons, up 19.1% and Ben Tre reached 161.9 thousand tons, up 24.9%.