The total export value of Vietnam’s tra fish (pangasius) over the first four months of the year suffered a plunge of nearly 27% to US$449.5 million in comparison to the same period from last year, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

Tra fish exports continue to suffer from negative growth (Photo: tienphong.vn) 

VASEP says Vietnam’s tra fish exports to the Chinese market began to rebound between the end of February and early March following several Chinese processing plants resuming operations.

Throughout the four-month period, the total value of pangasius exports to China suffered an annual decline of 20.2% to US$111.1 million. Despite enduring a sharp drop, the northern neighbour remains the country’s largest export market for tra fish, making up 24.7% of total export value.

Indeed, March and April saw Chinese customers begin to import extra goods for stockpiling, while the main consumption power largely came through the online system or supermarket channels.

Meanwhile, after experiencing an increase of 26.4% during March, tra fish exports to the United States plummeted by 20.7% in April from the same period last year.

At present, the US remains the epicentre of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) with all food and aquatic product processing factories encountering severe difficulties with regard to staffing and fully operating their premises. Consequently, Vietnamese pangasius exports to the US fhad fallen by 14.6% by the end of April.

ASEAN grew to surpass the EU as the third largest consumer of Vietnamese tra fish, after China and the US, accounting for 11.8% of the total value. Four-month pangasius exports to this lucrative market suffered a drop of 24.4% to US$53 million.

Due to the negative impact of the COVID-19, tra fish exports to the European Union during the reviewed period faced a number of hurdles with an export value reaching US$48.3 million, a drop of 36%.

Most notably, exports to the three largest markets in the bloc, the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium, endured respective declines of 29%, 31%, and 38.8%.

According to VASEP, amid the complicated nature of developments in the COVID-19 epidemic especially in major export markets such as the US, EU, and Brazil, pangasius exports in the second quarter are projected to plunge and only recover in the third quarter if the epidemic is successfully brought under control globally.