The export value of tra fish in July continued to drop for the fifth consecutive month, down 12.7 percent year-on-year, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

Illustrative photo (Source: kinhtenongthon.vn)

As a result of the downward trend, the figure for the January-July period also decreased 5.5 percent from the same period last year to 1.13 billion USD. 

It is noteworthy that export of the fish to the US market in July declined by as much as 56.2 percent to 25.6 million USD, bringing the seven-month figure down 34.3 percent to 167.6 million USD. 

Even though the US is still the second biggest market of Vietnamese tra fish, shipments to this market are forecast to continue decreasing towards the end of this year, partly due to many technical and trade barriers to imports of white fish, including those from China and Vietnam. 

On the contrary, tra fish export to China and Hong Kong surged 71.1 percent in July, resulting in a 10.4 percent increase in the export value of the 7-month period, reaching 320 million USD. 

In the EU market, signs of slowdown and decrease were observed in tra fish export to the UK, the second biggest of the fish in the EU, with a 10 percent reduction in July. However, the 7-month figure, at 33.3 million USD, still showed a 36.3 percent increase. 

On the bright side, tra fish export to Germany and Belgium in the first seven months of this year picked up 39.6 percent and 32.5 percent, respectively, partly contributing to a 12.6 percent rise in the figure of the entire EU market to 156.7 million USD. 

For other markets, rises were seen in the ASEAN, Mexico and Japan, but reductions were reported in Brazil and Colombia. 

VASEP General Secretary Truong Dinh Hoe said the target of 2.3 billion USD worth of tra fish export this year is still feasible, as exports tend to increase towards the end of the year.