(vasep.com.vn) Over the five recent years, Vietnam has remained the leading supplier of pangasius to Singapore. Vietnam’s earnings from fish export to the market were 2 times higher than that of Indonesia – Singapore’s second largest supplier.
Regarding statistics from International Trade Center (ITC), Singapore imported US$84.6 million of frozen pangasius fillets in 2011, of which spending on Vietnamese fish was US$37.1 million.
So far this year, the country has ranked the first position among consuming markets of Vietnam pangasius in ASEAN. It imports averagely US$3 million of fish per month. Pangasius imported from Vietnam is more and more popular in Singapore’s restaurant and food service chains. Some major supermarkets like NTUC Fair Price and Cold Storage are also keeping pangasius products available on their food shelves to respond to consumers’ rising demand.
To the middle of August 2012, Vietnam pangasius industry earned US$22.1 million of fish sales to Singapore, slightly down 0.5 percent from the same time last year. Pangasius shipment generated US$3.6 million, up 34.4 percent in July; in contrast, June sales totaled only US$3.1 million, declining nearly 21 percent.
Pangasius trade with Singapore kept growth in the first half of 2011; but it has been showing signs of slow down from January to June 2012 and even reported two-digit drop in January, April and June 2012.
Imported products make up 95 percent in Singapore’s food consumption. The country is also purchasing food from suppliers such as China, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and other countries. In which, food from ASEAN countries occupies high market shares in the island.
Thailand exporters got great business results in Singapore market because they always focus on good quality products and stimulating trademark promotion in order to keep their prices high.
In Singapore, Cold Storage is the first retailer which launched a range of MSC-labeled seafood products (including merluce fillets from South Africa) and other sustainable products listed in WWF seafood guide. The supermarket is finding more supplies of sustainable and good quality seafood products to develop sustainably and conserve marine fish stocks.
Singapore targets to boost fish production for domestic consumption from the current level of 7 percent to 15 percent in the next future. The country imported fish seeds from Taiwan or China to grow, as well as launched promotion campaign in purpose to help consumers distinguish between domestic and foreign fish.