The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters & Producers (VASEP) are optimistic about Vietnamese catfish exports in 2019, anticipating revenues of between USD2.2bn-2.3bn.

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The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that Vietnam was the world's biggest catfish exporter. Vietnamese fish account for 91% of total imported catfish into the US and 9% of the market share in China. In 2018, catfish export revenue reached USD2.2bn.

Many firms started investing in catfish due to rising prices of catfish and raw materials since the beginning of 2017. VASEP estimated that the export revenue this year would remain at USD2.2-2.3bn.

Many experts said that even though Vietnam had been badly affected by the US-China trade war, some sectors actually benefited, including catfish exports. When the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement is finally ratified, import duties on unprocessed catfish to the EU would be reduced from 5.5% to 0% for three years and from 7% to 0% for seven years for processed catfish.

However, Viet Dragon Securities Company warned that rampant production could lead to excess supplies and price drops.

Lao Dong/Dtinews