(pangasius-vietnam.com) Through March 2014, Vietnamese pangasius exports had a worth of US$408 million, up 5.17 percent year on year. Shipments to the U.S. got strong rise while those to the EU were decreasing. The U.S. has passed the EU to be the leading pangasius importer of Vietnam.
The U.S. sourced nearly US$84 million of pangasius products from Vietnam in the first quarter of 2014, up 15.25 percent year on year. In contrast, pangasius exports to the EU were US$82.87 million, downed 13.13 percent year on year.
Through April 2014, Mekong Delta totaled 1,048 hectares of pangasius farming area; 990 hectares of which were harvested for an output of nearly 253,000 MT. The average yield was about 256 MT per hectares. Superficies in production were 2,814 hectares.
Key pangasius producing provinces in the delta - An Giang, Dong Thap, Ben Tre and Can Tho - accounted for 85.5 percent of regional superficies and production. Most of farms for commercial pangasius are currently owned by processing companies in order to ensure raw material supply for processing to export.
Raw pangasius price sees recovery trend, which is from VND24,500 – 25,600 per kilogram at the moment of the year. The business profit will drive local farmers to stock fish and eye on fish quality.
Besides, pangasius farmers are focusing on the quality of their fish through applying standards like GlobalGAP and VietGAP in order to provide the good quality fish and raise competitiveness.
The Vietnamese government has policies to solve problems in pangasius production and distribution chain. With this help, processors and exporters are able to borrow loans from bank to keep operations.
By 2015, the Directorate of Fisheries plans to complete the project on transferring good quality pangasius broodstocks to localities in order to replace the current broodstocks. DoF will support to provinces to invest in infrastructure and technology for pangasius cultivation, looking towards a sustainable development.