20 YEARS OF SPECTACULAR DEVELOPMENT OF VIETNAM PANGASIUS

News 14:26 28/07/2018
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Vietnam’s pangasius exports in the past 20 years (1998-2018) has remarkable changes, including the increase in both export volume and value, diversification products and export markets.

In 1997, the country exported only 425 MT of pangasius with a total value of over US$1.65 million. Thus, pangasius exports just accounted for 0.2% of total seafood exports and were equal to 0.6% of total shrimp exports. However, in the first stage, pangasius export price was at the high of US$3.9 – US$4.1/kg. In particular, most exporters focused on the neighboring markets in the region such as China - Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan. Nearly 50% of pangasius output was exported to China - Hong Kong.

The next 5 years marked the stepping stone of the pangasius industry. According to a report from some Departments of Agricultural and Rural Development in the Mekong Delta, from 2000 onward, pangaisus farming in the Mekong Delta has started spectacularly with the formation of large concentration farms in An Giang , Dong Thap, Can Tho, Vinh Long ... with a total area of ​​over 5 thousand ha. In 2001, the total output reached over 100 thousand MT; and in 2009 it reached over 1 million MT, earning an export turnover of US$1.4 billion. Thus, from the spontaneous raising of some small farming households and rudimentary production facilities, Vietnamese pangasius began to "grow" into an industrial production.

In 2002, exports marked the "spectacular" development with a sharp rise of 6,580% in the export volume and 5,253% in the export value compared with 1997; the number of markets also increased by three times. In the next four years, from the export volume of thousand MT of pangasius, it had increased to hundreds of thousands of MT of pangasius with the value up to hundreds of millions. However, the average export price of pangasius decreased from US$3.11 - US$3.15 to US$2.5 – US$2.75/kg. During this time, the pangasius export companies focused strongly on the U.S market. In 2001, the production of frozen fish fillets exported to the U.S market increased to nearly 21,000 MT, rising by more than 20 times from the export volume in 1998. The FOB prices ranged from US$1.2 to US$1.5 per pound or VND40,000 to VND50,000 per kilogram.

The 10 leading importing markets of Vietnam pangasius in the 10 years (1998-2007)

No.

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

1

China

U.S

U.S

U.S

U.S

U.S

EU

EU

EU

EU

2

U.S

China

Japan

Singapore

China

EU

China

ASEAN

Russia

ASEAN

3

Singapore

Singapore

Singapore

Hong Kong

Singapore

ASEAN

U.S

U.S

U.S

U.S

4

Switzerland

Switzerland

Taiwan

Germany

Germany

Australia

Hong Kong

Australia

Hong Kong

Mexico

5

Belgium

Germany

Australia

Canada

Australia

Canada

ASEAN

Mexico

Australia

Ukraine

6

Australia

Belgium

Hong Kong

Japan

Belgium

Mexico

Australia

Canada

Mexico

Australia

7

Netherlands

Japan

Canada

Netherlands

Japan

Japan

Mexico

Russia

Canada

China-HK

8

Sweden

Taiwan

-

Australia

Canada

Taiwan

Canada

Lithuania

Ukraine

UAE

9

Japan

Malaysia

-

Malaysia

Switzerland

South Korea

Japan

UAE

UAE

Canada

10

Taiwan

Netherlands

-

China

Malaysia

Dominica

Russia

Taiwan

Lithuania

Egypt

Despite the technical and commercial barriers from markets, Vietnam’s pangasius exports continue to grow. In 2008, for the first time, the export turnover of Vietnam pangasius reached billions of dollars. In this year, Vietnam exported 640.8 thousand MT, worth by US$1.45 billion with the average export price of US$2.27/kg. During this period, Vietnam pangasius continuously faced the anti-dumping tariffs, catfish inspection program (in the U.S); and the media smear campaign in the EU which greatly affected the exports. The average price of pangasius decreased from US$2.75 to US$2.15 – US$2.25/kg. In the next 3 years, the export value of pangasius reached US$1.8 billion in 2011. This was the record exports of Vietnam pangasius in the past 20 years. From 2012 to now, the average export value of pangasius was lower than the peak in 2011 and reached from US$1.56 to US$1.78 billion. After the 20 years of exports, Vietnam pangasius has been growing steadily and gained international stature.

The 10 leading importing markets of Vietnam pangasius in the 10 years (2008-2018)

No

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

3M/2018

1

EU

EU

EU

EU

EU

EU

EU

U.S

U.S

China

China

2

Russia

U.S

U.S

U.S

U.S

U.S

U.S

EU

China

U.S

U.S

3

Ukraine

ASEAN

Mexico

ASEAN

ASEAN

ASEAN

ASEAN

China

EU

EU

ASEAN

4

U.S

Russia

Russia

Mexico

Mexico

Brazil

Brazil

ASEAN

ASEAN

ASEAN

EU

5

Mexico

Ukraine

Egypt

Brazil

Brazil

Mexico

Mexico

Mexico

Mexico

Brazil

Mexico

6

Egypt

Egypt

Australia

Saudi Arabia

China

China

China

Brazil

Brazil

Mexico

Brazil

7

Australia

Australia

Saudi Arabia

China

Russia

Colombia

Colombia

Saudi Arabia

Colombia

Colombia

Colombia

8

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

Brazil

Australia

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

Colombia

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

9

UAE

Canada

Colombia

Colombia

Colombia

Australia

Egypt

Canada

Canada

Canada

UK

10

Canada

UAE

Ukraine

Russia

Australia

Russia

Australia

Egypt

Australia

Australia

Australia

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