Vietnam's pangasius exports navigated a challenging 2024, achieving USD 2 billion in export turnover with steady, albeit slow, growth. Shifts in consumer preferences, market adjustments, and fluctuations in geopolitical factors, including conflicts, freight rates, and tariffs, presented unavoidable obstacles in the current climate.
However, the paramount factor enabling a product to maintain a strong market presence and earn consumer trust remains high quality coupled with reasonable pricing. High-quality finished products stem from sound production and processing procedures adhering to food safety and hygiene standards. To achieve this, harvested pangasius must meet size requirements and be disease-free before entering processing plants. Healthy and carefully selected fingerlings, raised in optimal conditions, determine the final product quality.
The average farming period for pangasius is 10 months, with fish reaching a size of 0.7-1.5 kg/fish, meeting commercial pangasius standards. This extended farming period requires patience, meticulous care, close monitoring of the fish stock, and prompt detection and isolation of diseased fish to ensure sufficient output for processing, production, and export. Thus, farmers are a crucial driving force for increased production and exports. Profitable farming incentivizes expansion of ponds, mitigating the issue of idle ponds.
2025 is considered a pivotal year for Vietnam's seafood export sector, with Vietnamese farmers and fishermen as the core driving force. 2025 also promises to be a year of new milestones for pangasius exports.
Regarding consumption markets, China & Hong Kong remain the leading destinations for Vietnamese pangasius exports. In December 2024 alone, pangasius exports to this market reached over USD 52 million, a 19% increase year-on-year. Cumulative pangasius exports to China & Hong Kong for the entire year 2024 reached over USD 580 million, a slight 1.3% increase compared to 2023.
The US continues to hold second place, after China, among the largest importers of Vietnamese pangasius. In the final month of 2024, pangasius exports to the US reached nearly USD 28 million, a 40% increase compared to December 2023.
Pangasius exports to the CPTPP bloc also recorded 10% growth in 2024, reaching over USD 274 million. Within the bloc, Mexico remains the leading importer of pangasius from Vietnam. In 2024, pangasius exports to Mexico reached USD 76 million, a 4% increase compared to 2023.
Pangasius exports to the EU in the final month of 2024 also reached nearly USD 16 million, an 18% increase compared to December 2023. The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, and Spain are among the top importers of Vietnamese pangasius within the bloc. However, unlike other countries, pangasius exports to Germany alone witnessed a 2% decrease in 2024, with a value of over USD 37 million.
Furthermore, pangasius export turnover to some other markets also achieved positive results and recorded positive growth, such as Brazil with a 15% increase, Thailand with a 4% increase, and Colombia with a 36% increase.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) With a range of synchronized solutions, from institutional improvements and strengthened communication to strict fleet control, Quang Ninh is stepping up efforts to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, determined to join the country in soon having the European Commission’s (EC) “yellow card” lifted.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) The year 2025 closed with a remarkable milestone for Vietnam’s shrimp industry. According to Vietnam Customs, the country’s total shrimp export turnover in 2025 reached USD 4.6 billion, up 19% compared to 2024 and the highest level ever recorded.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) During the 2026–2030 period, Quang Tri province aims to convert 771 fishing vessels currently engaged in activities detrimental to marine resources and the ecological environment to more environmentally friendly fishing practices or shift entirely to other economic sectors.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) 2025 recorded a breakthrough growth in Vietnam’s tilapia exports, in which the U.S market emerging as the primary growth driver. The total export turnover of Vietnamese tilapia to the United States reached $53.15 million during the year, surging 173% year-on-year and accounting for 54% of Vietnam’s total tilapia export value, thereby making the U.S the largest import market for this commodity. Compared to 2024, tilapia exports to the U.S posted robust growth, reflecting the import demand as well as the ability of Vietnamese enterprises to capitalize on market opportunities amidst volatile global competitive dynamics.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) After two consecutive years of decline, Vietnam’s fish cake and surimi exports rebounded in 2025. Export turnover of this product group exceeded USD 344 million, up 15% year-on-year compared with 2024 and 13% higher than 2023, although still below the peak level recorded in 2022.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) By the end of 2025, Vietnam’s seafood industry had left a strong mark with export turnover reaching nearly $11.3 billion, up 12.4% year-on-year. This robust performance reflects not only a rebound in global consumption demand but also the agile adaptation of domestic firms in navigating increasingly stringent trade barriers.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) According to the 2025 review and 2026 outlook conference held by the Directorate of Fisheries and Fisheries Surveillance on the afternoon of January 7, Vietnam’s seafood sector has set a total production target of over 10 million tons in 2026, representing a 0.6% increase year-on-year. Of this total, capture fisheries are projected at around 3.75 million tons (down 2.1%), while aquaculture output is expected to reach 6.25 million tonnes (up 2.2%) compared with 2025.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Sao Ta Food JSC (Fimex, Ticker: FMC) has announced its 2025 business results, reporting revenue of over $300 million (approximately 7.8 trillion VND), representing a 19.8% increase year-on-year; projected profit is expected to reach approximately 420 billion VND.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Vietnam’s fisheries sector concluded 2025 with landmark achievements: export turnover reached a record high, despite heightened volatility in global trade and increasingly stringent barriers from major markets, most notably the United States. Amid a mix of opportunities and challenges, the fisheries sector also witnessed important policy shifts. Together, these developments form a multifaceted picture of an industry proactively adapting and restructuring toward a trajectory of sustainable development.
(seafoos.vasep.com.vn) According to the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Vinh Long, the province’s shrimp farming area reached 69,800 hectares in 2025, including 7,500 hectares under high-tech farming models, 18,820 tons of black tiger shrimp and 293,000 tons of whiteleg shrimp.
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