Pangasius revived, made a breakthrough in the US and Chinese markets

Mr. Truong Dinh Hoe, General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), commented that in 2020 the pangasius industry “stranded” because of the blockade order in key export markets. By the third quarter of 2021, the Covid-19 epidemic in Vietnam made the pangasius production and export industry difficult.

The 4th outbreak of Covid caused the production chain to break. All input costs, feed costs, packaging, additives, … and processing costs “three on the spot” significantly increase the cost of farming and processing. Freight costs increased 8-10 times, he cited.

Closing a turbulent year 2021, pangasius export of the whole country reached about 1.54 billion USD, only a slight increase compared to 2020.

However, in the first two months of 2022, pangasius exports reached US$384.8 million, up 93.6% over the same period last year.

Pangasius exports grow in all markets

According to VASEP, pangasius exports have revived strongly in all markets. In particular, some key markets recorded a breakthrough, growing at 3-digit rates.

Specifically, by the end of February 2022, pangasius exports to the US market reached US$94.57 million, up nearly 120% over the same period last year. The US is also the number 1 pangasius export market of Vietnamese enterprises.

Notably, in the China – Hong Kong market, despite the strict control policy on frozen food, pangasius exports still reached US$85.8 million, an increase of approximately 240% over the same period in 2021. As a result, China – Hong Kong is the second largest customer of Vietnamese pangasius exports, accounting for 22.3%.

In the CPTPP market, in the first two months of this year, pangasius exports earned 52.5 million USD, up 51.4% over the same period last year.

Similarly, after two consecutive years of decline in the EU market, since the beginning of the year, pangasius exports have regained their growth momentum. By the end of February 2022, pangasius exports reached nearly 28 million USD, up nearly 76% over the same period last year.

In addition to the main markets, the export value of pangasius to other potential markets such as Brazil, Thailand, UAE, UK… also achieved good growth.

People should not stock up on livestock, must stick with the market to avoid oversupply.

Pangasius market expert Ta Ha of VASEP said that pangasius exports are receiving many positive signals. In the US market, after the DOC announced the preliminary results of the 17th review round and the final results of POR17 anti-dumping tax on imported frozen pangasius fillets, Vietnam has more exporters enjoying the tax rate. 0% tax to this market. As a result, pangasius exports to the US in the coming time will continue to grow strongly.

In addition, pangasius exports to other markets are also forecast to maintain double-digit growth if the disease is well controlled.

The recovery of the export market has pushed the domestic price of raw pangasius to increase sharply since the beginning of the year. Currently, the price of raw pangasius has increased to 30,000 VND/kg, helping farmers make a profit of about 5,000 VND/kg.

However, many pangasius farmers in the Mekong Delta share that although the price of pangasius has increased, in reality, they have no or very little raw fish left to sell. Because, after a long time of heavy losses, many households have hung up their ponds, reducing the farming area, leading to a shortage of raw fish supply and an increase in prices.

Currently, many households are tending to rapidly increase the farming area, leading to a high price of fingerlings. However, pangasius processing enterprises said that the increase in pangasius price is only short-term, the market is still not stable.

If you are in a hurry to farm according to the movement, not attached to the market, you will face the risk of falling raw fish prices, imbalance of supply and demand. This also happened in 2018, causing the price of this item to decrease continuously 3 years later.

Not to mention, many countries promote pangasius farming, the global output in 2022 will exceed 3 million tons. Thus, Vietnamese pangasius will meet more competitors in the international market.

Inner peace