Enterprises need to redirect pangasius exports

China has suspended operations of all frozen seafood and food supply chain companies in Dalian which accounts for 40% of frozen seafood imports into China due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Processing Pangasius for export in Hung Hau Company.

The seafood imports and exports may be affected and decrease. Therefore, businesses need to redirect exports.

Fishery exports plunge in Chinese market

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), from early in the year, China has strengthened trade barrier policies.

Therefore, not only pollock, cod from Russia, salmon and white fish from Norway but also pangasius from Vietnam are subject to strict control measures to prevent Covid-19 infections.

According to Ms. Ta Ha, a pangasius market expert of VASEP, China’s imports of white fish from three major markets, including Vietnam, Russia and Norway, have all suffered a sharp decline in the first half of this year and are forecast to decrease until the end of the year.

Meanwhile, Vietnam and Russia are the two largest supply markets for white fish to China.

As of the first half of October, Vietnam’s pangasius exports to China – Hong Kong decreased by 24.7% to $290.7 million.

Despite the decrease in import value compared to the same period last year, so far, China – Hong Kong is still the largest export market of many Vietnamese pangasius enterprises.

With the strict control by the Chinese government for foods and fishery imports, the white fish exports to China, including pangasius exports will drop two digits compared with the previous year.

Shifting pangasius exports to other markets

Some major pangasius exporters affected by the decline in the import by the Chinese, have shifted the exports to other markets.

For example, the pangasius exports to China market by Vinh Hoan Joint Stock dropped 38%. However, the pangasius export turnover to the US in September saw a year-on-year surge of 79% to VND344 billion. The import to the European market also increased by 11%.

In addition, many Vietnamese pangasius exporters have exported to markets such as ASEAN, the Middle East or Latin America.

The number of exporters that promote exports to Brazil and Mexico sharply increased compared to the previous year.

In the second quarter of 2021, the value of pangasius exports to Mexico grew from 166% to 232% over the same period in 2020.

Pangasius processing and exporting enterprises are mainly located in the Mekong Delta, with 106 pangasius processing factories registered for export in five provinces with an estimated workforce of 190,000 people.

Pangasius exports in the first months of the year saw positive results. However, amid the peak of pandemic, over 50 pangasius processing factories in An Giang, Dong Thap, Can Tho, Hau Giang and Vinh Long provinces have suspended their operations, and about 70% of employees have left jobs due to the public health crisis. Therefore, the pangasius exports plunged more than 30% from August.

Currently, the Covid-19 pandemic has broken out again in many provinces of the Mekong Delta, many exporters have suffered the increase in costs for disease prevention and control, and their operations have been significantly affected.