Tra fish (pangasius) prices skyrocketed last month, reaching a 10-year high, but experts warn that export of this seafood product could be unstable this year.

Tra fish being processed for export at Hung Ca Company Ltd in southern Dong Thap Province’s Thanh Binh District. 

They said measures should be taken to restore declining imports to major markets like the US and Europe, counter misinformation about the local seafood industry, and create a national brand with quality products.

In the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta provinces, tra fish prices surged by VND4,000-7,000 (20-27 US cents) per kilo over last year to VND24,000-29,000. At these prices, it is estimated that farmers can earn profits of VND1.5-1.7 million per tonne.

Meanwhile, the prices of tra fish breeds climbed to VND50,000-60,000 per kilo in late April and early May, VND20,000 higher than early April, a threefold year-on-year increase.

According to the Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), tra fish prices in the Asian market averaged $2.3 per kg in January and rise $2.7 per kg in February, up 17.3 per cent. 

By April, the prices rose to $2.8-3.00 per kg, up 30.4 per cent compared with the beginning of the year.

VASEP general secretary Truong Dinh Hoe told Thoi bao Kinh te Viet Nam (Viet Nam Economic Times) that tra fish prices had started to rise a few months prior to the Lunar New Year festival that fell in January, and reached its peak in April. 

This was the longest period ever that prices kept increasing, and the trend might continue until the end of 2017, Hoe said.

He attributed the surge in purchasing prices to a lack of supply in the market as a result of households abandoning tra fish farming after many consecutive years of losses.

Export orders for tra fish in early 2017 rose 10 per cent year-on-year, while tra fish bred for export processing in 2016 fell, Hoe added.

In previous years, the US and EU were Viet Nam’s largest export markets for tra fish, but this has declined in recent years. 

In the first quarter of this year, export value of tra fish to the United States was just $61 million, down 24.3 per cent year-on-year, and corresponding figures for the EU and Southeast Asia also dropped sharply, by 21.5 and 10 per cent, respectively.

Hoe said anti-dumping tariffs were mainly to blame for the decline. In the US, for instance, Vietnamese exporters had to pay tariffs of $3 per kilo, discouraging them from developing tra fish for export, Hoe said, adding that recent incorrect news broadcasts by overseas media had also hurt exporters.

However, tra fish exports to China have shot up since the beginning of this year, surging by 50 per cent over the same period last year. 

VASEP estimates that China will overtake the US this year as the largest importer of Vietnamese tra fish, with imports of approximately $400 million.

This sudden growth poses many risks, Hoe cautioned, without elaborating.

He said it is crucial that Viet Nam regains its lost market share in the EU and US and promotes the image of tra fish bred in the country.

Towards this, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), in collaboration with VASEP, has launched a campaign to boost the brand of Viet Nam’s tra fish.

VASEP has suggested that the agriculture ministry re-activate the Market Development Fund established in 2002 by the former Ministry of Fisheries. 

VNS