5:30:08 PM | 25/8/2008
Five biggest pangasius catfish companies in Vietnam have decided to raise export prices by 5 per cent in order to recover local catfish breeding, state media reported, citing deputy minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Luong Le Phuong.
The companies are Hung Vuong Co. in Tien Giang province; Vinh Hoan Co. Ltd in Dong Thap; Nam Viet and Agrifish in An Giang, and Cafatex in Can Tho City.
The deputy minister said export prices of Vietnamese pangasius were around US$2.7 a kilogram in 2007. But the prices decreased to only US$2.33 a kilogram in the first five months of 2008.
Prices of catfish material at local market also dropped to from VND11,000-VND14,000 a kilogram during the time, discouraging local breeders to continue business.
Vietnamese catfish processing companies are asked to purchase the remaining 90,000 tons of oversized catfish in order to help local breeders under the government’s direction.
Vietnam now has 168 companies involving in exporting catfish, but only 57 of them have processing plants.
Vietnam exported US$762.7 million worth of catfish in the first seven months of 2008, of which some US$241 million by the five companies. (Vietnam Economic Times)
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