Vietnam’s pangasius exports in the first 6 months of the year recorded a growth in almost all major markets. The total export value of pangasius reached USD1.42 billion, up 82.4% over the same period in 2021. However, from Q3/2022, this growth rate is expected to slow down in some markets, says Vietnam’s Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers ( VASEP). Pangasius exports in the first half of the year increased sharply to three major markets
China – Hong Kong: Total value increased 107% to USD 427.6 million. Previously, China’s Zero Covid policy made it difficult for imported seafood products during the first four months but recently, China decided to remove the policy of suspending the import of frozen food contaminated with Sars-COV-2 virus after nearly 2 years of implementation. VASEP forecasted that this will help Vietnam’s frozen pangasius exports to this market grow for the rest of 2022.
US: Total value increased 111% to USD 356.4 million at the end of June 2022. US accounted for 25% of the total export value. The growth of pangasius exports to US slowed down in the last two months. Importers said that seafood consumption in general, including pangasius in the US, has shown signs of slowing down. Inflation in the US is at a four-decade high. In June 2022, food prices increased by 10.4% year-on-year, which is the largest annual average increase since 1981. According to new data from IRI and 210 Analytics, the price of pangasius in the US is also increasing by about 22%. At chain stores and convenience stores, sales of frozen seafood were negatively affected by rising inflation, but not as seriously as fresh sales. The US seafood warehouse is still full. Therefore, it is possible that in the next quarter, pangasius exports to the US will be lower than in previous quarters.
CPTPP: This group of countries (Australia, Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam) is this largest pangasius export market. Total value increased 66.3% to USD 180 million in the first 6 months of 2022. Mexico is largest import market in the bloc with a value of USD 62.4 million, up 68.5%. Vietnam has benefitted from an increasing demand for importing seafood products with reasonable prices and healthy nutrition of the Mexicans as the country’s economy remains sluggish and has not recovered to pre-pandemic levels.
