New remarkable success of Vietnamese pangasius

2018 is full of success to Vietnamese pangasius with raw material hitting records and exports reaching estimated volume of two billion USD.

Thriving production

According to statistics of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, production of pangasius in Mekong Delta provinces in first ten months estimated to reach 1,106.4 thousand tons, up 7.2% year-on-year with ĐồngTháp producing 172 thousand tons (+4.5%), An Giang 283.9 thousand tons (+19.3%) and Bến Tre 172 thousand tons (up 5.8%). Export volume in ten months increase by 24%, reaching 1.8 billion USD. China is emerging as a potential buyer of Vietnamese pangasius. Export value to China – Hongkong is estimated to be 437.9 million USD, up 30.6% as compared to 2017.

A noticeable increase in sales were recorded while there was not enough supply to meet the higher demand of material pangaius, making price push up 3,000 – 4,000 dong/kg averagely as compared to earlier this year and farmers earn 10,000 – 11,000 dong/kg. Oversized pangasius (4 – 5 pc/kg) was bought unexpectedly high at 40,000 – 50,000 dong/kg by Chinese traders. Vietnamese pangaius are mainly exported at the end of the year as demand of importing countries grow

There are 4,860 farming ponds in Mekong Delta granted identifications with Đồng Tháp 1,642 ponds, CầnThơ 912, An Giang 791, Vĩnh Long 680, Bến Tre 611, Tiền Giang 143, and Sóc Trăng 81. NAQIAD is reviewing the quality of exported pangasius fillet and checking production facilities for traceability. An Giang has 408.7 hectares of pangasius farming ponds meeting standards with ASC 101.66 ha, Global GAP 21.91 ha, and VietGAP 285.13 ha. The province authority has granted 121 certificates of identification to pangasius farming ponds over 435 ponds of companies (478 ha) and 424 ponds of farmers (2884.7 ha)

Besides, production chain of high quality pangasius among by three parties in Mekong Delta will produce enough pagasius to meet higher demand, developing pagasius sector in the sustainable direction.

Expectation in 2019

Pangasius which is considered an advantage of Vietnam has been penetrating global markets like the Europe, US, China, ASEAN, and Middle East, proving the nutrition facts and cuisine culture of Vietnamese pangasius. Global markets of pangasius is full of growth potential in the next years, at least by 2025 pangasius will become an ingredient in drugs and functional foods.

Chairman of Vietnamese Pangasius Society Dương Trung Quốc says there are various analyzed opinions and expectation saying that pangaius will be exported in favorable conditions in 2019, especially if the anti-dumping duty in the US (announced in the middle of next year) still remain at low level. Once Vietnamese pangaius is recognized to be similar to the US catfish (following Farm Bill), export volume to the US started to increase. Besides, sales in EU and China are positive, making Vietnam expect to produce 1.3 – 1.35 million tons per year. Quality of farmed pangasius must be paid attention while added value products from pangasius should be made such as refine pangasius, collagen, fish oil, fish meal, and fish bone to increase the exports of raw products.

Vietnamese pangasius export may be facilitated in 2019 as the US Department of Commerce announces the anti-dumping duty imposed on pangasius imported from Vietnam at low level and Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) recognized Vietnamto meet requirements of exporting fish and Silurifome fish (including pangasius) to the US during catfish inspection program. Some companies’ representatives say from now to the end of the year, pangasius exports may remain high. It is forecasted that pangasius exports will strongly grow in December and reach 2.1 billion USD, up 22% year-on-year.