Pangasius exports to US increase

Processing pangasius for export. Photo: T.H

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers, by the end of July, the total value of pangasius exports to the US reached 133.7 million USD, down 20.2% over the same period last year. But in July, pangasius export value to the US increased slightly by 4.4%.

After the Covid-19 pandemic, some good signals restarting in Spain, UK and US have made the picture of pangasius exports to the US this month more optimistic.

During the past threeyears, China, the US and the EU are still the three largest markets of Vietnamese pangasius exporters. Therefore, every move and development from these markets have made a great impact on the psychology of Vietnamese pangasius exporters. Of which, the US is one of the special markets.

Vietnamese pangasius businesses have high hopes for positive growth to the USafter a year of declining months.

Because in the first quarter, only in January, pangasius export value to the US decreased by 55.3%, then increased by 67% and 26.3% over the same period in the lasttwo months.

However, since the second quarter, when the US became thecentreof the COVID-19 pandemic, the sudden increase in coronavirus infections brought the US food service industry back into pandemic prevention mode.

Some restaurants closed voluntarily, and many states and cities required masksin all public areas due to skyrocketing infections.

As of June, at least 16 states have halted or cancelled reopening plans in response to an increase in COVID-19 infections. These states include Arizona, Texas, California, Florida, New York and New Jersey. This has had a huge impact on the import and export of pangasius to the US.

For three months from April to June 2020, pangasius export value to the US fellby 20.7%; 52.1% and 31.5% over the same period last year.

In May, the Food Safety and Quarantine Department (FSIS) of the US Department of Agriculture - USDA announced that, due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, restaurants and eateries across the US had to be closed. The agency has decided to issue a regulation loosening the labeling rule with effect within 60 days for meat, poultry, and aquatic products (pangasius and white fish) according to regulatory powers.

However, these changes haven’t had much impact on enterprises and they conducted a relatively tight pangasius inventory and maintained the same labelling for both service and retail food. The most difficult thing for US importers and sellers was the pandemic stagnating the entire trading system, imports and exports.