China started stock up pangasius for the Lunar New Year

According to Seafood Guide, pangasius sales in China increased sharply during the recent New Year holiday, a positive sign for sales during the Lunar New Year holiday in early February. 

Before the new year, Chinese consumer spending increased sharply, leading to enterprises stocking up pangasius to secure supply.

Chinese distributors said market demand has begun to increase since the New Year holiday. Currently, they are prioritizing the import of stockpiled goods rather than releasing existing inventory.

Vietnam, the world's largest producer of pangasius, exported over 700 containers of fish to China in December. Each contained 25 tons of frozen and butterfly-cut fillets. Vietnam's total pangasius exports to China amounted to more than 8,600 containers.

According to data from the General Department of Vietnam Customs, pangasius exports to China and Hong Kong in the first 11 months of 2023 reached 529 million USD, down 21% over the same period last year. However, in November alone, turnover recovered strongly by 28% to 39 million USD. 

Approaching the end of the year, China tends to increase imports of Vietnamese pangasius to serve the year-end holidays. According to data from Vietnam Customs, pangasius export turnover grew continuously for three consecutive months in September, October and November. In particular, the main export product to this market is frozen whole round pangasius and frozen pangasius fillets.

"These positive signals from the Chinese economy, increased orders, especially the strengthening of bilateral relations between Vietnam and China give reason to be optimistic about Vietnam's pangasius exports to China in the near future" VASEP commented.

Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development forecasts that pangasius output in 2024  increases by 2.8% compared to 2023; The output harvested in the first and second quarters of 2024 still meets the demand for processing and export.

Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien set the target of total pangasius export turnover in 2024 at 2 billion USD, higher than the estimated figure of 2023 of 1.8 billion USD. 

Seafood Guide quoted Mr. Chen Xindong, General Director of Octogone, saying that market demand is shifting to more high-end products. 

As of January 1, Vietnam’s pangasius farming regions quoted raw material prices as stable at about 26,000 VND/kg (1.07 USD/kg), equivalent to the end of December.

A Chinese distributor forecasts that wholesale prices and raw material prices will continue to increase due to high demand during the Lunar New Year in early February.

According to Vietnambiz