Influences on export, pangasius price falls by nearly half

	Local agricultural products set sights on Indian market
	Pangasius export flourishes from the first quarter of the year
	A difficult year for pangasius exports

Processing exported seafood. Photo: T.H

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), as of mid-February 2020, the price of raw catfish of the Mekong Delta decreased by 42.6% compared to the same period last year, at 19,500 VND / kg.

The Covid-19 epidemic meanscatfish exports to China were temporarily interrupted. China is the largest market of Vietnam pangasius, so changes inmarket have immediately impacted catfish production.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in 2019, the total area of catfish farming in the Mekong Delta is estimated at 6,600hectares, with production of 1.42 million tons, concentrated in provinces ofDong Thap, An Giang, Ben Tre and Can Tho.

Nationwide, there are 200 catfish hatchery production establishments, 3,000 ha of fingerling produce about 21 billion catfishfry and over 2.1 billion fingerlings. In 2019, 45,000brood stocks were replaced. It is expected that 60,000 of the parents will be replaced in 2020.

Until 2019, according to FAO's report, although Vietnam is the dominant market of international pangasius supply, the production of other countries such as Indonesia, Bangladesh, India and China also contribute a fair share to the wider distribution of Pangasius products not only in Asia.

In November 2019, the US officially announced a law document from the Department of Food Safety Inspection (FSIS) of the United States Department of Agriculture on recognition of Vietnam as a country eligible to export Siluriformes fish and fish products to the US market. This is goodnews for Pangasius export enterprises. However, the export value of pangasius to the US still decreased, so the price of domestic raw materials decreased leading to the decrease of the average export price to the US market.

In 2019, Pangasius material price movement in the Mekong Delta trendeddownwards. In particular, the highest price of the year in mid-February 2019 with an average of 34,000 - 34,500 VND / kg. After that, the price gradually decreased and fell to the lowest level at the end of November 2019 with the price ranging from 19,000 to 19,500 VND / kg. In December 2019, the price of fish increased slightly by 1,000 VND / kg to average between20,000 and 20,500 VND / kg. With this price, the price of raw fish has dropped by about 44% over the same period in 2018.

After decreasing from a positive price of 34,000 - 34,500 VND / kg (in February/March 2019), raw material pangasius in the Mekong Delta decreased to 20,500 - 21,000 VND / kg in January 2020. Facing the temporary slowdown in the first quarter of this year, pangasius prices may decline further. If the export market stabilizes, pangasius prices will increase gradually in the comingquarters.

About the disease, experts recommend that Pangasius farmers and enterprises should proactively move to other markets, update information to adjust the farming, production and export plans to meet consumption demand.