The exports to the market have been marked by seventh straight months of decline as of August, according to a recent report by the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

Although the U.S. remains the second largest buyer, shipments are expected to continue falling after that country raised anti-dumping duties on Vietnamese products in April, VASEP said.

Before concluding its 14th period of review on April 29, the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) had set preliminary weighted-average dumping margins for Vietnamese pangasius exporters at $0-1.37 per kilogram.

However, after the investigation, the DOC slapped $3.87 on Hung Vuong Group and $1.37 on five other seafood producers, and kept the $2.39 margin on all other Vietnamese producers.

According to VASEP, Vietnam has exported $1.3 billion worth of pangasius in all this year, down 7.7 percent from the same period last year.

Exports to China, its biggest market, rose 17.2 percent to $389 million, and exports to the EU increased by 8.8 percent to $174.3 million. 

According to the association, last year pangasius accounted for $2.26 billion out of Vietnam’s total seafood exports of around $9 billion.