Downing pangasius exports to Mexico in September

However, Vietnamese pangasius sales to Mexico are downing. In September, exports decreased by 37 percent to US$4.8 million. This was the second consecutive month reporting drop in value.

Some exporters said that Mexican pagasius imports downed because there were much more domestic-farmed tilapia in this market. Moreover, prices for domestic and imported tilapia products were stable, so local consumers were turning to eat this kind of fish.

Importing tilapia products into the market has increased since May 2013. In the first months of the year, Mexico just purchased a much lower volume of tilapia compared to that of pangasius. However, purchases of these two kinds of fishes were nearly the same since May.

With total of US$78.7 million, China remained the leading supplier of frozen fish fillets of Mexico in terms of value through July 2013, followed by Vietnam with US$69.4 million.

Generally, Mexican consumers like eating more frozen fish than fresh and canned products. So far, per-capita seafood consumption of the country was 9 kilogram per year. Mexico’s governement took measures to enhance per-capita consumption in the next ten years. Currently, the country reports an annual fishery production of 1.7 million MT; 85 percent of which was wild-caught fishes, the rest is aquacultural species. Shrimp, tilapia, tuna are the main wild-caught and farmed species. Tilapia and catfish are also increasingly grown in some states of Mexico.

Mexico plans to undertake a pilot farming program with pangasius seeds from Vietnam, as well as conduct research to assess eventual environmental impacts of pangasius aquaculture on surrounding areas and communities.

Despite downing pangasius exports to Mexico in the last two months, this country has still been a steady market for Vietnamese pangasius with higher exported price compared to those offered by other importers, Vietnamese companies said.