Vietnamese pangasius exports to India up 45 percent

India purchased a large volume of pangasius from Vietnam to supply fish retail outlets in domestic market. Pangasius products are traded in many restaurants in the metro line in Mumbai and Delhi. Consumers can also buy packed pangasius steaks in large-scale supermarkets in big cities.

Indian farmers and fish companies started growing some freshwater fish species, including catfish. Catfish seed was stocked with a density of 1 – 1.2 pieces per square meter in pond of averagely 2 hectares with depth of 2-2.5 meters. The fish was fed mainly by dried soybean. This production method is sustainable and friendly with environment. Some producers in Andhra Pradesh are operating large-scale fish production chain. With the yield of 50 MT per hectare in Andhra, catfish has more potential than scampi and black lobster. However, farmed catfish is only traded in domestic market because it is too large to be filleted to export.

In 2013 India mainly bought fresh fish and frozen fish fillets from outside. In which fresh fish (HS code 0302) was the most profitable items among imported raw fish (HS code 03) followed by frozen fish fillets (HS code 0304), shrimp and crustacean (HS code 0306) and mollusk (HS code 0307).

According to statistics from International Trade Center (ITC), import of fresh fish into India totaled 21,283 MT and US$87.5 million in 2011, sharply up from 11,755 MT and US$38.2 million in 2010. Frozen fish fillet was 3,104 MT and US$9.2 million, higher than 1,685 MT and US$4.1 million in 2010.

In 2012, Indian fish price went up 10 – 30 percent and remained at high level as demand is rising over supply. In Mumbai, pomfret got 40-percent rise in price compared to that quoted 3 years ago.

India produces annually 6.57 million MT of farmed and caught fish. Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that the country expected to reach over 13 million MT of fish by 2016 through investing in fisheries infrastructure.

India has potential in freshwater fish farming with an estimated freshwater surface of 5.4 million of hectares of which 30,000 – 40,000 hectares will be used to rear catfish and pangasius. India government and the fish industry need to mobilize capital to invest in technologies to expand pangasius production to export.