(pangasius-vietnam.com) In the first half of September 2013, Vietnam pangasius exports to the EU had worth of US$13.2 million, up 3.4 percent against the same time of 2012. If the figure keeps increasing in the second half, September is the third month that pangasius see growth in sales to European market. The two biggest single markets were Spain (up 12.2 percent to US$2.1 million) and the Netherlands (up 4.6 percent to US$1.9 million).
According to statistics by Vietnam Customs, through September 15th, 2013, the EU has been the second export market for Vietnamese pangasius products with value of US$267.2 million, representing 22.4 percent of Vietnam’s total export value. Despite positive signs in August and mid-September, exports to the EU has not showed strong rise due to low global economic recovery. Through the middle of September 2013, pangasius export downed 12.2 percent in value and reported drop of over 14 percent in most of main markets such as Spain, Germany, and the Netherlands. Spain got the deepest fall of 19.3 percent to US$53.04 million.
Spanish seafood imports were also on the downtrend. In 2012, this country imported 375,040 MT of seafood products worth US$1,247.9 million from other supplying countries within Europe. The figure went down 21.7 percent in volume compared to that of 2011.
In spite of lower imports, pangasius products’ shares are still expanding in the European market, as the fish are more and more popular to local consumers. The fish quality is a deciding factor to develop in the EU. Consumers want to know well the origin of what they eat in restaurants; they do not choose products without clear origin information. According to a study by the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), most European consumers believe that products’ origin is important information when choosing food for consumption. Therefore, pangasius products with international certificates like ASC and GlobalGAP will have advantages to compete and attract consumers, especially during the regional economic downturn.
Currently, the U.S. is the leading importer of Vietnam pangasius, but shipments to this market are decreasing. With a slight recovery in imports, the EU is hoped to return to the first position among Vietnam’s pangasius importers.