Global Economic Crisis Affecting Vietnam Catfish Export
Vietnamese tra and basa catfish exports have been affected as many world importers reduced or stopped buying fish, the Vietnam & World Economy reported, citing vice chairman of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).
Vice Chairman Ngo Phuoc Hau, who is also general director of the An Giang Fishery Import-Export Company (Agifish), said the world economic crisis forced foreign businessmen to consider importing.
Hau said Vietnamese catfish processing companies are halting purchase of fish from farmers, and only using their fish, adding that many of them decreased capacity.
Fishery analysts said as the U.S. and EU markets tightened credit, the importers could not pay cash down to Vietnamese exporters. They called for deferred payments but Vietnamese exporters could not agree.
The analysts forecast that global seafood export industry will decline from 20 per cent to 30 per cent in volume in the remaining months of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009.
According to the VASEP, Vietnam exported US$1.24 billion worth of tra and basa catfish in the first ten months of 2008, surpassing yearly plan.
In Oct, the country notched up US$159.221 million from pangasius export, up by 60 per cent on year.
In the past three months, export prices of Vietnamese pangasius catfish rose from US$2.15 a kilogram to US$2.36 a kilogram.
But currently, price of cattish decreased by VND800 a kilogram to only VND15,800-16,000 a kilogram in Mekong Delta provinces. (Vietnam & World Economy, Youth)
Vietnamese
