Pangasius fish prices plummet, farmers suffer huge losses

In 2018, the prices of pangasius fish fluctuated at VND29,000 per kilogram and sometime in September and October jumped to VND34,000-VND36,000 per kilogram, helping export turnover of pangasius fish to reach VND2.26 billion, up 26.5 percent. However, in the first eight months of this year, the situation was fairly gloomy.

Pangasius fish export turnover this year is forecast to be difficult to meet the target. (Photo: SGGP)

The departments of Agriculture and Rural Development of provinces in the Mekong Delta on September 16 said that the prices of material pangasius fish continued to maintain at low level, disadvantaging fish farmers and export enterprises. Firms and traders were buying pangasius fish at VND19,500-VND21,000 per kilogram, much lower than buying rates in the same period last year, causing huge losses for several fish-farming households.

Mr. Cao Luong Tri, a long-standing pangasius farmer in Cho Moi District in An Giang Province, lamented that pangasius fish farmers earned high profits last year but this year they were empty-handed. His family had around 500 tons of material pangasius fish which are ready for harvest but he could not sell his fish due to low prices which would cause him to lose VND3,000-VND5,000 per kilogram.

The prices of material pangasius fish dropped drastically as export situation encountered difficulties since the beginning of this year, of which the US market fell by more than 50 percent in the first eight months of this year.

Amid the situation, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers forecast that this year pangasius export turnover is estimated at $2.23 billion and will hardly reach the target of $2.4 billion set by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.