Encouraging the construction of a supply chain from breeding, raising commercial Vietnamese catfish to processing and exporting; reducing production costs to increase competitiveness. Illustrative image: TTXVN

Forecast of increased production in 2024

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in 2023, under the impact of inflation and political instability, the catfish sector faced many difficulties. It is estimated that in 2023, the area for catfish farming in the country reached about 5,700 hectares (equal to 98% of 2022); the output was about 1.61 million tons (equivalent to the same period); the export turnover was estimated at 1.8 billion USD, only equal to 75% compared to 2022.

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) reported that as of November 2023, the export turnover of catfish reached 1.6 billion USD, a decrease of 27.9% compared to the same period in 2022. The catfish import markets of Vietnam in 2023 all tended to decrease: China decreased by 21.8%, the United States by 53.1%, the EU by 17.2%... The markets of Germany, the UK, Brazil, Saudi Arabia grew positively but are small in scale. Despite a deep decline compared to 2022, as of this time compared to previous years, the export turnover of catfish in 2023 still increased by 26% compared to 2021 and was equivalent to 2020; compared to the pre-pandemic period in 2019, it only decreased by 4%. The difference in 2023 is that there are no clear signs of recovery at the time of the strong buying season in quarters 3 and 4.

According to VASEP, weak demand in the markets is a major difficulty and challenge for Vietnam's catfish exports in 2023, plus the continuous decline in export prices, leading to not only a decrease in total production but also in export turnover. Major catfish importers in markets such as the United States, the EU, CPTPP... tend to reduce inventory by reducing imports to optimize costs in a context of high inflation, causing consumers to tighten spending more than before. Some neighboring countries have developed catfish farming, reducing imports from Vietnam.

The catfish products are still monotonous, and high-value-added products account for a small proportion, so they have not created significant commercial competition and value. Meanwhile, the stages of breeding, commercial farming, and feed still account for a large proportion (70-80%) in the cost of producing catfish. Notably, some catfish breeding facilities have not adhered to the correct usage period of parent fish, and the survival rate in the nursing stage is still low; some localities have not issued Farming Certificates to small-scale farms as regulated. Along with this, some businesses still focus on competing in price rather than quality, instead of building brands for certain catfish products.

Catfish is a characteristic species and considered a brand of Vietnam, before 2015, the catfish production in Vietnam always accounted for over 99% of the world's farmed catfish production. However, some countries around the world have also seen this potential and started farming catfish like India, Indonesia... Many countries are investing and expanding catfish farming areas, threatening Vietnam's position in this seafood species, Vietnam no longer has a 'monopoly' on catfish. The Department of Fisheries (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) reported that currently, Indonesia is farming and harvesting 0.6 million tons of catfish/year, exporting catfish products to the Middle East, Japan, Myanmar... Besides, China and Bangladesh have also started catfish farming. All these have significant impacts, affecting the export results and increasing competition for Vietnamese catfish.

“However, catfish exports are showing more positive signs in some markets such as China, Mexico, Canada, Brazil, the UK. The forecasted catfish production in 2024 will increase by 2.8% compared to 2023. Global inflation is likely to be controlled, and consumer demand is expected to recover from the second quarter of 2024. The production in the first two quarters of 2024 is not expected to be as high as anticipated. However, with the current recovery trend, the catfish production expected to be harvested in the first two quarters of 2024 will still meet the needs for processing and exporting,” a representative of the Department of Fisheries added.

Enhancing the competitiveness of catfish

In 2024, the catfish industry aims to reach 5,700 hectares of farming area, an estimated production of 1.7 million tons of commercial catfish, and an expected export turnover of 2 billion USD.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien believes that to achieve the above results, the localities in the Mekong Delta, especially An Giang and Dong Thap provinces, and catfish processing and exporting enterprises need to focus on improving the quality of catfish breeds; accelerate the implementation of projects and research tasks on selecting traits (disease resistance, fillet ratio, product taste, protein and fat content, salt tolerance...) according to market demand; apply vaccine technology and molecular genetics..., to improve the quality of catfish breeds. Continue to supplement and replace the parent catfish stock with improved genetics in terms of growth rate and disease resistance for breeding facilities as needed, ensuring the supply of high-quality breeds for commercial farming, reducing production costs. Strictly control breeding facilities, especially those nursing catfish breeds, and strictly handle cases that do not comply with regulations.

Along with this, encourage the building of supply chains from breeding, commercial catfish farming to processing and exporting; reduce production costs to increase competitiveness; jointly responsible for monitoring and supervising the production process; build an electronic origin tracing system for the export chain - processing factories - farming facilities, ponds with assigned codes to ensure transparency. Enterprises continue to research and develop deeply processed products, high-value-added products, diversify products for different market segments, especially focusing on ready-to-eat products..., to enhance the value of catfish.

“Besides expanding export markets, implementing certification regulations for catfish products according to the requirements of Islamic countries (Halal), catfish production and processing enterprises need to focus on expanding the domestic market, aiming at collective kitchens in industrial zones, schools; expanding the market,” Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien emphasized."