Pangasius exports to CPTPP: Mexico and Canada regain their growth

Despite recording an positive growth rate, the value of pangasius exports to CPTPP in October this year was not as high as in a few previous months (March and August 2023 recorded a turnover of 23.4 million USD and 23.3 million USD).

In October 2023, Vietnamese pangasius exports to the markets of CPTPP member countries showed positive growth for the first time after 9 months of decline, with turnover reaching more than 23 million USD, up 4% over the same period last year. The overall growth in October was contributed by turnover increases to two markets: Mexico and Canada.

In October 2023, Mexico still maintained its growth, continuing to be CPTPP leading market in importing pangasius from Vietnam, with more than 7 million USD, an increase of 10% compared to October 2022. This country's import value in the first month of the fourth quarter of 2023 is also the highest level since the beginning of this year.

By the end of October 2023, Mexico had purchased from Vietnam mainly frozen pangasius fillets with HS code 0304, accounting for 93% of the proportion, down 38% over the same period last year. In September and October 2023, sales of this product in Mexico grew positively by 36% and 12%, respectively, while the previous months had a double-digit decline.

Besides Mexico, Canada is also a country with impressive growth in October this year in importing Vietnamese pangasius. In October 2023 alone, Canada bought nearly 4 million USD of pangasius, an increase of 29% over the same period last year. Among them, frozen fillet products are still the most popular product segment in the country, with the second-largest area in the world. In October 2023, exports of frozen pangasius fillets to Canada reached 3 million USD, an increase of 20% over the same period. In the first 10 months of the year, Canada purchased nearly 27 million USD of this product, down 42% over the same period last year.

Other markets in the bloc, such as Singapore, Japan, Australia, etc., mostly still witnessed a decline in Vietnamese pangasius imports in October this year. The trend of pangasius exports to these markets is difficult to predict due to erratic increases and decreases. A typical example is Singapore, where pangasius exports to this market grew well in the first 3 months of the year, then reversed and decreased in the following months.

There is still a lot of room in the CPTPP market for Vietnamese seafood, including pangasius. Choosing to produce value-added goods and taking advantage of import tax incentives under the CPTPP Agreement can also be options for many businesses to both stabilize jobs for workers and take advantage of processing capacity.