(seafood.vasep.com.vn) After 4 years of implementation, ‘Sustainable Pangasius Supply Chain in Vietnam' (SUPA) project funded by the European Union (EU), chaired by Vietnam Cleaner Production Centre (VNCPC), jointly conducted with WWF-Vietnam, WWF-Austria and VASEP has obtained positive and specific results. Each pangasius company, which participated in deploying the support packages of the project, has saved VND2-5 billion and reduced 28.5% of water consumption, cut down 28% of wastewater into the environment, 18.6% of electricity consumption and reduced 2,000 MT of GHG discharged into the environment per year.

The first pilot pangasius batch that was raised and harvested in a model farm under the EU-funded project - “Establishing a Sustainable Pangasius Supply Chain in Vietnam” (SUPA) – was sold to give financial support to 106 poor families in Tan Phu Ward with the approval of the European Union.

(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In 2016, Vietnam’s pangasius exports estimated to touch US$1.66 billion, rising 7% from the previous year and accounting for 24% of total seafood export turnover.

(seafood.vasep.com.vn) As of Nov 2016, Vietnam’s pangasius exports to ASEAN valued at US$123.3 million, accounting for 8% of total pangasius exports, and increasing by 0.4% year on year. Of that, exports to top 3 largest importers in the region including Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines rose by 0.1 - 3.5% compared to the same period in 2015. In Nov 2016, exports to Singapore climbed up nearly 43% over the same period last year.

PHARMAQ's vaccine ALPHA JECT ® Panga 2 received a marketing authorisation from the Department of Animal Health December 5th 2016.

The U.S. remained Viet Nam’s top seafood market, accounting for over 20% of the Southeast Asian country’s total pangasius export values, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In the first 11 months of 2016, the export turnover of Vinh Hoan Corp rose by 10% over the same period last year. Of that, the export volume increased by 13% while the average export prices remained stable.

(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In the first 8 months of 2016, imports of frozen pangasius fillets totaled 50,000 MT. This was the largest import volume from the last 3 years. However, the average import price into the market in the first half of this year were the lowest, ranging from US$2.6-2.7/kg.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released the testimony of Steve D. Morris, Director of the GAO Natural Resources and Environment unit, before the Subcommittee on Health of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which provides a "... status update on the [USDA] Food Safety and Inspection Service's catfish inspection program and summarizes [its] work on its potential duplication, overlap, and fragmentation.

WASHINGTON, DC – The Health Subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA), today held a hearing examining the waste and duplication in the USDA’s Catfish Inspection Program. The FDA is already responsible for overseeing the safety and inspection of seafood.

(seafood.vasep.com.vn) China (including Hong Kong) is more likely to become Vietnam’s largest pangasius market in 2017.

(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In Jan-Sep 2016, Vietnam pangasius exports reported a y-o-y growth of 6.2% to reach US$1.2 billion. Among 4 largest markets of Vietnam pangasius, pangasius exports the U.S., China, ASEAN rose 23%; 75.6%; 0.03%; respectively; exports to the EU downed 9.9%. Importing markets and main products are as follows:

(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Vietnam’s pangasius exports to the U.S. and China showed the steady growth in the first 10 months of this year. If it keeps the current growth and technical barriers to pangasius shipments to the U.S, in 2017, China - Hong Kong expected to become the leading importer of Vietnam’s pangasius.

(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In Aug and Sep 2016, Vietnam pangasius exports to China peaked at US$30.9 million and US$30 million, respectively. As of Sep 2016, Vietnam pangasius exports to China -Hong Kong totaled US$201.9 million, up 75.6% over the same period last year. After months of consecutive growth, China has overtaken the EU to become the 2nd largest buyer (behind the U.S.) of Vietnam pangasius.

(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In contrast to the trend of exports last year, in the first 8 months of this year, Vietnam pangasius exports to the Brazil were unstable.