(The Saigon Times Daily) Vietnam’s tra fish exports to the U.S. rose by 35% year-on-year as of August 15, while exports to the European Union (EU) market fell sharply, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) reports.
According to the statistics of VASEP, tra fish exports to the U.S. had brought in over US$235 million by the middle of August, up 35% against the same period last year. The U.S. is the single biggest buyer of Vietnamese tra fish in terms of value, with a share of 22%.
VASEP vice chairman Duong Ngoc Minh said local firms boosted export to the U.S. after the demand of the EU market declined significantly. Exports to the EU as of August 15 fetched US$272 million, down 19% year-on-year.
While Vietnam’s tra fish exports to the U.S. picked up sharply, the U.S.’s catfish output decreased. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported the amount of fish processed in July was 25.1 million pounds, or around 11,200 tons, dipping 6% over the year-ago period.
The reason is feed material prices in the U.S. have increased from US$400 to US$600 per ton, while catfish prices have fallen slightly, discouraging the U.S. fish growers from raising this kind of fish.
Frozen tra fish fillets exported to the U.S. were priced at US$2.89 per kilo in July, down 72 cents against the same period in 2011.