Strong rise in U.S. pangasius imports in Jan 2014

In January 2014, the U.S. bought 10,963 MT of pangasius from Vietnam, valued US$32.12 million, up 31 percent in volume and 27 percent in value year on year. The fish was bought at US$2.93 per kilogram into the American market, compared to US$3.03 per kilogram reported a year ago.

This month, catfish imported into the U.S. from China totaled 1,536 MT, having a worth of US$6.85 million, up 170 percent in volume and 194 percent in value year on year. The average import price was US$4.47 per kilogram, compared to US$4.09 per kilogram of the same time of 2013.

U.S. imports of tilapia also got rise of 42 percent in value and 28 percent in volume in January 2014. The NMFS reported that, in 2013, the outside seafood purchase by the U.S in 2013 increased by 8.3 percent (equal to US$1.4 billion) to US$18.3 billion, compared to US$16.9 billion in 2012. However, imported tilapia was down 5.2 percent in volume from 187,794 MT in 2012 to 178,052 MT in 2013. However, its value still rose 6.3 percent from US$842 million in 2012 to US$895 million, as there were higher prices because of rising demands. China, the largest tilapia supplier of the U.S. exported 143,628 MT of fish to this destination, 6,000 MT less than that of 2012. Supply from Indonesia decreased by 100 MT from 11,931 MT in 2012 to 11,801 MT in 2013.

After consecutive months of reporting one-digit growth, Vietnam has got stronger rise in pangasius exports to the U.S since the end of 2013. According to Vietnam Customs, pangasius shipments to the American market reached US$38.5 million in January 2014, a rise of 44.6 percent year on year. With a proportion of 24.6 percent in total exports, the U.S. ranked first among Vietnam’s pangasius importer, followed by the EU with 20.5 percent.

Some Vietnamese exporters said that the pangasius exports to the U.S in the first quarter much depend on the final decision of POR9 which is scheduled in early April.