Sharp rise of pangasius prices

Cultured aquatic output was forecast at 297,900 tons in February 2022, up 4.5% from a year earlier, including 215,100 tons of fish, up 4.4 %; and 43,800 tons of shrimp, up 4.0%.

In the first two months of 2022, aquatic output rose 1.9% year on year to 1,168,400 tons, including 619,200 tons of cultured fish, up 3.4%; and 549,200 tons of wildlife catch, up 0.3%.

Currently, raw pangasius price in the Mekong Delta has jumped sharply after a long low period due to increased export demand amid short supply.

Specifically, the pangasius price ranged from VND27,500 to VND29,000 per kilo, an increase of VND7,500 - 9,000 from a year ago and VND4,000 over the previous month, just before Tet or Lunar New Year.

With the current price, pangasius farmers enjoy high profitability. Pangasius output was projected at 94,900 tons in February 2022, up 4.9% year on year.

Meanwhile, for the shrimp industry, farmed shrimp developed quite well and suffered fewer diseases. Shrimp prices remained stable. Localities continued to develop high-tech semi-intensive white-legged shrimp farming, adopted new farming processes and actively controlled the farming environment better.

White-legged shrimp output was estimated to rise 6.3% year on year to 25,500 tons in February 2022. Black tiger shrimp output was 14,200 tons, almost unchanged from the same period of last year.

The fishing industry experienced a difficult time due to high gasoline prices. Although weather conditions were favorable for fishing, fishing trips declined. In February 2022, commercial fishing was estimated at 266,700 tons, unchanged from the same period of 2021.

In aggregate, the aquatic production harvested 280,600 tons in February 2022, slightly 0.1% higher than a year earlier, including 219,600 tons of fish, 10,000 tons of shrimp, and 51,000 tons of other aquatic products.

Livestock and agriculture damaged by cold weather

Northern agricultural production was hit by unusually cold weather in February 2022.

According to the GSO, by mid-February 2022, the country cultivated 2,638,700 ha of winter-spring rice, 1.2% larger than the same period of 2021. Southern localities basically completed winter-spring rice cultivation and started harvesting some early rice.

The winter-spring rice area contracted 8,400 ha from a year-ago period. The Mekong River Delta alone shrank 17,800 ha because some localities actively reduced the area of unproductive fields.

Besides, localities nationwide kept planting cash crops. The acreage of sweet potatoes, soybeans and peanuts declined from last year, mainly due to poor profitability and slowing consumption. Hence, people tended to switch to growing maize and legumes.

For the livestock sector, severe cold in the north killed 6,389 cattle in February 2022, including 5,311 buffaloes and cows, and 1,078 goats and other cattle.

However, the pig herd expanded by 2.9% from February 2021 and the poultry population also grew by 2.0%.

Pig farming was gradually stabilized because businesses, farms and households actively reared their breeding stocks, sought consumer markets, and ensured hygiene and biosecurity. However, the livestock industry still faced difficulties due to high feed prices and high risks of African swine fever.

After Tet, tree planting was expanded. The area of newly planted forests was estimated at 9,500 ha in February 2022, 6.7% larger than a year earlier.

Some 9.7 million forest trees were planted in February, up 5.4% year on year. Timber production was 982,800 cubic meters, up 4% and firewood production reached 1.5 million ste, unchanged from the same period last year.

In sum, in the first two months of 2022, the area of newly planted forests was 16,800 ha, up 6.3%. 13.6 million trees were planted, up 4.6%; timber production was 1,923,300 cubic meters, up 4.2%; firewood production was 3 million ste, down 0.3%.

Impressive export of forest and aquatic products

Despite facing numerous difficulties due to high gasoline prices resulting in higher freight charges, agricultural exports still advanced impressively.

Most exports maintained last year’s performance. Although shipments to China weakened, Vietnam's fruit and vegetable exports grew slightly, by 0.3%.

Notably, seafood exports brought home US$1.53 billion from January to February, which was 36% higher than the same period of last year. In January, the value was US$872 million, as much as 43.3% higher than the month a year ago.

This was also the first month to make a new export record of over US$800 million. Seafood exports to most markets grew strongly, particularly to the United States where shipments expanded by 82%, to Japan by 19.25%, to the EU by 63.86%, to South Korea by 15.44%, and to China by more than 62%.

Meanwhile, woodwork and forest product shipments continued to set a new record of nearly US$3 billion in two months, up 12.8% higher than a year ago. According to the General Department of Customs, the January exports earned a monthly record high of US$1.55 billion, an increase of 14.3% from the same month of 2021. Woodwork and forest products were the second best-performing export with double-digit growth, just after textile and garment.