Catfish industry to reach US$2 billion export target in 2018

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has set a target of earning US$2 billion from catfish export this year, said Acting Director General of Directorate of Fisheries Nguyen Ngoc Oai in a conference held on March 16.

Catfish will make up 31.5 percent of total export value of Vietnam’s fishery sector

Accordingly, the catfish export is expected to account for 31.5 percent of the fishery industry’s export turnover in 2018. The catfish output is also planned at more than 1.3 million tons.

To meet the target this year, the domestic fishery industry will improve the quality of fish bleedings besides enlarging export markets for catfish products. 

Meanwhile, farmers need to team up with catfish processing companies to ensure a balance between supply and demand.

However, many exporters of catfish are expected to face many difficulties, including lack of raw materials and purchasing prices of material to peak at above VND30,000 per kilo. The higher price of raw materials would push the export value of pangasius up further in the future.

Ong Hang Van, Deputy Director of Truong Giang Seafood Joint Stock Co, attributed the severe shortage in catfish breeding to the huge loss of catfish before Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday due to the unfavorable weather conditions, which leads to the lack of catfish supply in the market after Tet. 

Van said the catfish breeders are in lack of high quality catfish breeds, which affects negatively the quantity of fish during the growing process. 

He added that his company is willing to collaborate with other company to choose catfish eggs from the catfish provided by the Research Institute for Aquaculture No 2.

Ngo Quang Truong, Director of Bien Dong Seafood Company said the low supply of catfish partly comes from the weather, predicting that the breeding will be regained in the next one month of the catfish reproductive season. 

Duong Nghia Quoc, chairman of the Vietnam Pangasius Association, suggested that the government should encourage catfish exporters through enhancing the control of breeding quality besides supervising catfish breeders. 

According to Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), the total export value of Vietnam’s catfish in January reached $172.5 million, a year-on-year increase of 43.7 percent.

In January 2018, catfish exports to mainland China, Hong Kong and ASEAN increased sharply, while exports to the EU market continued to decline.

The export value of catfish to mainland China and Hong Kong increased 132 percent over the same period in 2017 to $41 million, becoming the largest export market for Vietnamese catfish products.

The export value of Vietnamese catfish to the US market reached $26 million, up 31 per cent while the export value to ASEAN market also reached $19.1 million, up 126 per cent over the same period last year.

With the high export value, ASEAN surpassed the EU to become Vietnam’s third largest export market. This year, ASEAN is expected to retain this important position.

Three other potential markets are Mexico, Colombia and Saudi Arabia, with high growth rates of 55.7 per cent; 81.4 per cent and 78.9 per cent, respectively. 

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong said that the fishery sector has the potential to further grow this year, which will help create a new mark and surpass the target of $8.5 billion set for 2018. 

However, he also required the fisheries sector to enhance investment to improve quality and packages to enable bringing more added value and raise the prestige of Vietnamese trademarks in the global market.