Domestic seafood enterprises are forecast to earn US$1.3 billion from pangasius exports this year, up US$300 million against figures given in early May by the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).
Pangasius exports will recover quickly from now on as huge markets including Eastern Europe and African regions have shown signs of increasing demand for Vietnamese pangasius, according to a director of a local seafood exporter as saying.
Duong Ngoc Minh, general director of Hung Vuong Seafood Joint Stock Company, said demand from the Eastern European market has increased by four times over the same period last year.
Chile and Peru are also increasing imports, while Mexico has raised its import volume two-fold. Some African countries have raised ordered volumes by ten, Minh added.
A recent decision by Russia to stop importing fish from Chile, Canada and China, meanwhile, will bring more opportunities to Vietnamese fish exporters.
Exports of pangasius fish to the Russian market have picked up since early this year. Over 10,000 tons of the fish were exported within May and June while the figure is expected to be 15,000 tons next month.
Deputy Minister Luong Le Phuong, who is also the head of the Committee for Fish Exporting to Russia, predicted that Russian consumers will demand around 70,000 tons of pangasius fish for the rest of this year.
A delegation of the committee will visit Russia in late June to sign export contracts for July, August, and September of this year, said Phuong.
After the contracts are signed, Vietnamese enterprises will collect fish from farmers at prices of VND500-VND1,000 per kilogram higher than the current price, which stands at US$3.1 per kg.
Vietnam was estimated to bring in a total turnover of US$477 million from pangasius exports in the first five months this year, down 4 per cent on-year. (Vietnam Economic Times)
Vietnamese
