By Trung Chanh - The Saigon Times
Tuesday, September 29, 2020

Pangasius (Tra Fish) Being Processed For Export At A Manufacturing Facility. Credit: VIFEP

CAN THO – The demand from large markets for Vietnamese tra fish has shown signs of improvement after a long period of sluggish trade, with local tra fish exporters seeing their outbound sales of the fish improve since last month, according to leaders of seafood companies.

Ong Hang Van, deputy general director of Truong Giang Seafood JSC, told the Saigon Times that a drop in tra fish demand still exists, but tra fish exports to major markets such as the United States, the European Union and China have recovered since August.

Before August, his firm exported some 2,000 tons of tra fish per month. The figure rose to some 2,500 tons and then 3,000 tons in August and September, respectively, although it remained lower than last year’s average amount at 4,000 tons, Van said.

He asserted that tra fish exports will continue the upward trend in the coming months.

According to the Truong Giang seafood company representative, if local tra fish businesses accept late payments, the number of importers will rise. However, transactions with late payments pose many risks, so local exporters should be cautious if they approve this payment method.

The director of a tra fish exporting company, who declined to be named, also confirmed that tra fish exports have made a rebound over the past month. Despite not revealing a specific export volume of tra fish, the director said the purchasing power of the import markets has improved around 15% against the previous months.

As the Covid-19 pandemic has been brought under control, especially in China, and the demand from residents for the fish during the rest of the year remains high, importers increased purchases of the fish, the director explained.

According to a report of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers, Vietnam exported tra fish worth over US$913 million as of August this year, dropping 30% compared to the same period last year. Tra fish exports to major markets such as China, Hong Kong, the U.S. and the EU fell sharply.

The tra fish export revenue earned from the China-Hong Kong market contracted 24% to US$295.8 million and that obtained from the U.S. and the EU declined 17.8% and 34% to US$154 million and US$86 million, respectively.

Source: The Saigon Times