Just back from visiting pangasius farms in Vietnam, Chris December, president of QVD Aquaculture in Bellevue, Wash., says one of the biggest current issues is the shrinking credit market for seafood suppliers in Vietnam.
“It makes it difficult to keep a business growing when credit is shrinking,” he says. Banks in Vietnam are re-evaluating their portfolios. If credit is limited or cutoff, he says, the immediate impact is that pangasius farmers can’t buy feed for their fish. Farmers either go out of business, he says, or have to find partners who can provide the capital that banks aren’t willing to loan.
While December anticipates some impact on supply, he says it’s difficult to pin down the numbers because farmers are reticent to divulge just how many fish are in the ponds. “We rely on feed sales to predict what will come out of the water,” he says.
Pangasius supplies are plentiful at the moment, with prices averaging around USD 3, CIF, for top quality product (100 percent white with 5 percent glaze). However, importers need to make the most of the situation, because after September and October when the next harvest takes place there will be far fewer ponds to empty and therefore far fewer fish to process.
Pangasius farmers are already closing their operations down. According to a Vietnamese news report, the area dedicated to pangasius farming in the Mekong Delta has shrunk by about 20 percent compared to this time last year. (The fact that there is plenty of pangasius available now is because farmers are panic selling.)
This situation is unsustainable and it is expected that about 50 percent of farmers will give up after harvesting their next lot of fish.
For farmers to stay in business they need VND 25,000 (USD 1.20) for each kilogram of pangasius they sell. This price then has to work its way through the chain and with a fillet yield of 30 percent, plus the cost of processing and freezing. This would mean a selling price for export of USD 3.80 to 4.00 per kilogram, a substantial rise.
If there is no increase in price for farmers, the further reduction in supplies will naturally lead to more processors cutting back on production, or even shutting down completely.
Already only about 50 percent of the seafood companies that were dealing in pangasius last year are still in business, and around another 100 such companies are expected to halt production after the autumn harvest. Plus, agencies that broker pangasius will also be forced stop operating.
Right now farmers are selling their fish in order to pay off the loans they took out to pay for feed and juvenile fish. Bank interest rates are sky high, ranging from 15 percent to a massive 30 percent, and companies are being given no leeway on paying them back.
This is a real worry as costs are continuing to rise. However, it is the steep increase in the price of feed, particularly that produced by foreign-owned feed mills, that is of most concern to farmers. One Vietnamese press report says that feed prices have increased by 40 percent already this year, and as feed accounts for 60 to 70 percent of the farming costs this is a very heavy burden for farmers to bear.
Regardless of what happens to price and its impact on sales in the future, there are already problems with exports to northern Europe where consumers are reining in their spending because of the economic crisis caused by the plight of the euro. As a result, importers in the Netherlands and Germany are reported to be “sitting on huge piles of pangasius” they cannot sell.
There are also problems in other parts of the world. The United States is now the biggest market for pangasius from Vietnam, but there are doubts that opportunities for increasing sales there are as big as was once thought.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Japan continues to be one of Vietnam’s most important and stable shrimp markets. In recent years, shrimp exports to this market have fluctuated in line with Japan’s broader economic and consumption cycles, yet Japan remains a major, high-value destination with stringent standards.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In 2025, Vietnam’s tuna exports to Spain increased by 13% compared to 2024. This growth trend has continued into the first two months of 2026. According to Vietnam Customs statistics, export turnover to this market reached nearly USD 3 million in January–February 2026, up 101% year-on-year and significantly higher than the same period in 2024. This development indicates that Spain is once again becoming a notable destination for Vietnamese tuna amid strong demand for tuna raw materials and products in Europe.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) The 2026 brackish water shrimp farming season in the Mekong Delta has started earlier than usual, mainly driven by positive market signals, as shrimp prices in 2025 remained high and supply was limited. Many enterprises and farms in Cần Thơ, Cà Mau, and Vĩnh Long have proactively stocked early to seize opportunities. By early 2026, stocking areas in many localities had reached a high proportion of planned targets, with intensive and high-tech farming models expanding rapidly.
(vasep.com.vn) Vietnam’s tilapia exports to the United States recorded remarkable growth in 2025, opening up major opportunities while also presenting considerable challenges. The U.S. remains the largest importer of Vietnamese tilapia fillets, with export turnover reaching USD 40 million—an increase of up to 499% compared to 2024. This impressive growth reflects strong demand in the U.S. market, as supply from competing countries such as China has been constrained by tariffs and rising production costs.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Pangasius remains a strategic export commodity in Vietnam’s seafood sector. Entering 2026, the industry faces a strong need to transition from volume-based growth to a value-driven development model, with a focus on quality, food safety, and sustainability.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Following damage caused by Storm No. 13 in late 2025, brackish water shrimp farming in Gia Lai is being rapidly restored. In key farming areas such as Tuy Phước and Tuy Phước Đông, farmers are focusing on rehabilitating ponds, repairing infrastructure, and treating the environment in preparation for the 2026 crop.
(seafood.vasep.com) Facing the decline in fishery resources, Vietnam is accelerating livelihood transitions for fishermen to reduce fishing pressure and move toward sustainable development. Marine fish stocks have dropped significantly from 4.82 million tons in 2000–2005 to 3.95 million tons in 2016–2020.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Vietnam’s shrimp industry is entering a period of strong transformation with the emergence of various high-tech farming models, helping improve productivity and competitiveness. Over the past 5–10 years, farming practices have shifted from traditional methods to intensive and super-intensive systems, featuring lined ponds, environmental sensors, automated feeding, and data management.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) With a focus on sustainable development, high-tech application, and climate change adaptation, An Giang Province aims to maintain its brackish water shrimp production in 2026 at a level equivalent to the previous year. Specifically, output is projected to reach over 155,510 tons, serving both domestic consumption and export processing, thereby sustaining the fisheries sector’s key role in the local economic structure.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In the Mekong Delta, key pangasius farming provinces such as An Giang, Dong Thap, and Can Tho are accelerating the transition toward a circular economy model, contributing to higher product value and reduced environmental impact. Instead of focusing solely on farming and processing, the pangasius value chain is increasingly utilizing by-products and waste streams to generate added value.
VASEP - HIỆP HỘI CHẾ BIẾN VÀ XUẤT KHẨU THỦY SẢN VIỆT NAM
Chịu trách nhiệm: Ông Nguyễn Hoài Nam - Phó Tổng thư ký Hiệp hội
Đơn vị vận hành trang tin điện tử: Trung tâm VASEP.PRO
Trưởng Ban Biên tập: Bà Phùng Thị Kim Thu
Giấy phép hoạt động Trang thông tin điện tử tổng hợp số 138/GP-TTĐT, ngày 01/10/2013 của Bộ Thông tin và Truyền thông
Tel: (+84 24) 3.7715055 – (ext.203); email: kimthu@vasep.com.vn
Trụ sở: Số 7 đường Nguyễn Quý Cảnh, Phường An Phú, Quận 2, Tp.Hồ Chí Minh
Tel: (+84) 28.628.10430 - Fax: (+84) 28.628.10437 - Email: vasephcm@vasep.com.vn
VPĐD: số 10, Nguyễn Công Hoan, Ngọc Khánh, Ba Đình, Hà Nội
Tel: (+84 24) 3.7715055 - Fax: (+84 24) 37715084 - Email: vasephn@vasep.com.vn