VASEP: Vietnam tra producers should plan to face China farming

VASEP has warned Chinese companies are now investing in tra production so Vietnamese producers and exporters need to have suitable plans. - Photo zing

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s tra fish producers and exporters should consider their future as Chinese enterprises move into the market.

Việt Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said some Chinese enterprises are investing in tra fish (pangasius) farming.

The action was due to the US-China trade war creating strong losses in tilapia exports from China to the US. Chinese companies are now investing in pangasius production.

Meanwhile, China is one of large export markets of Vietnamese tra fish.

Therefore, Việt Nam’s tra fish producers and exporters should have suitable production and business plans when China’s businesses have paid attention to tra fish production.

However, quality of tra fish meat produced by Chinese enterprises is not high compared to Vietnamese tra fish.

The VASEP representative also added that Việt Nam is now the third biggest supplier of white-meat fish to the Chinese market, after Russia and Norway, reported cafef.vn.

The export of tra fish to this market in the first nine months this year accounted for 23.6 per cent of Việt Nam’s total tra fish export value and Vietnamese tra fish hold 5.7 per cent of the seafood imports to China.

National brand

According to the association, Việt Nam does not have national brands for tra fish and shrimp, but next year, the fisheries sector will focus on building these brands.

Việt Nam is the third largest seafood exporter in the world after China and Norway and local seafood products have been exported to 160 markets.

To build a national brand for pangasius, an enterprise needs support from many sides, according to Trương Thị Lệ Khanh, chairwoman of Vĩnh Hoàn Joint Stock Company, one of the leading pangasius exporters in Việt Nam.

As the chairwoman of VASEP’s Freshwater Fish Committee, Khanh suggested Việt Nam should have a market development fund for tra fish, in part for building and advertising the brand.

Khanh local enterprises must develop high-quality products and make sure exporting is efficient.

VASEP expected Việt Nam to earn about US$3.8 billion from seafood exports this year, including $2.2 billion from pangasius. This is the first time, pangasius export value exceeds $2 billion.

Việt Nam is the largest pangasius exporter and the second largest shrimp exporter in the world but it is ranked the third place in seafood after China with large volume in tilapia exports and Norway with large export volume of salmon products.