Russia has surpassed the European Union to become the largest single buyer of Vietnamese tra and basa catfish with a total imported volume of 16,000 tons of the products in the first four months of this year, up from nearly 500 tons in the same period last year.
The figures were released by the Ministry of Fisheries (MoF) on July 10.
According to the MoF, besides Russia, the EU has been the largest trade bloc market for Vietnamese catfish, importing 37,000 tons in the first half of the year, tripling the figure in the same period last year.
As a result, exports of Vietnamese tra and basa catfish to Russia and the EU made up two thirds of the country's total export volume and value from this product.
In the EU, Poland, Spain and the Netherlands have been the leading importers of Vietnamese tra and basa catfish with increasing volume of fillets of these fish selling at retail shops in these countries.
The experts considered these achievements as a good trend for expanding the export market for Vietnamese seafood.
Vietnam reportedly fetched US$200 million from shipping 83,000 tons of catfish abroad in the first four months of this year, up 140 per cent in value and 150 per cent in volume on-year.
Last year, Vietnam exported 141,000 tons of tra and basa catfish, earning US$328 million.
Vietnamese tra and basa catfish, which are being mostly raised in the Mekong Delta region, have been shipped to over 40 markets in Asia, Europe and North America.
Vietnam's catfish yield ranks second among freshwater fish in the world, just after African carp. Vietnam's catfish yield is very large; about 500,000 tons in 2005.
Vietnam Economic Times
Vietnamese
