Downing pangasius sales in Germany

So far this year, German imports of pangasius from Vietnam only got rise in value in January and August. The decline was reported in most other months. The slightest drop of 16 percent was seen in April and the deepest fall of 43.8 percent in February.

Of frozen whitemeat fish fillets, Alaska pollock was the most purchased fish into German market, followed by cod and pangasius. Statistics from the International Trade Centre (ITC) says that in the first half of 2013, Germany consumed 69,580 MT of frozen Alaska pollock fillets, 13,339 MT of cod and 8,938 MT of frozen pangasius fillets. However, all species got lower imports than those reported in the same period of 2012.

Germany purchased less frozen fish fillets of all varieties (HS code 0304) from the world. Through June 2013, frozen fish fillets entering into Germany were 182,020 MT, sliding 4.18 percent from 2012. Vietnam was this country’s sixth supplier of frozen fish fillets, after China, the U.S, Denmark, the Netherlands and Russia.

Recently, some non-governmental organizations delivered negative alleged-information on Vietnam pangasius, decreasing international consumers’ confidence in the fish quality.

Some Vietnamese companies are introducing ASC-certified pangasius products to sell in Germany and several European markets to regain the prestige of pangasius.