Illustrative image (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNS/VNA) - Tra (pangasius) fishfarming has been hit by a double whammy of COVID-19 and prolonged saltwaterintrusion in rivers in the Mekong Delta region, according to the VietnamAssociation of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).
Many pangasius-farming households and export firms havesuffered in recent months as fish prices dropped steeply and export marketswere stagnant.
Since the beginning of this year exports of the country’s twomain seafood products, tra fish and shrimp, have been down sharply.
Tra exports have been particularly impacted by the COVID-19pandemic.
In the first half of this year, they were down 31 percent to 612.3million USD, according to VASEP. Shipments to all 10 leading markets decreasedfrom the same period last year, by 15.5 percent in the case of China, 24.4percent to the US and 36.6 percent to the EU.
Declining new orders, high inventories and low export priceshave caused profits of businesses and fish-farming households to plummet, withmany even suffering losses, VASEP said.
Le Vinh Trong, a tra fish farmer in An Giang province’s ChauThanh district, said normally the fish is harvested to sell to exportprocessing plants when it reaches a weight of 0.8-1kg.
However, his fish are now more than 10 months old and weigh1.8kg but there are no buyers.
He had to run around before finding a plant that agreed tobuy the fish for 17,700-18,000 VND per kilogramme, but on credit, prices atwhich he lost 5,000-6,500 VND per kilogramme.
Dong Thap province-based Vinh Hoan Company (VHC) announcedthat second quarter profit had halved year-on-year to 215 billion VND (9.2million USD).
The half-yearly profit too halved to less than 368 billionVND.
VHC is considering investment strategies to increase profitsthrough value chains. Besides its traditional tra exports, it is also eyeing anincrease in sales of fish fat and fish meal by 20 percent and collagen andgelatin products by 60 percent this year, thanks to the commissioning of a newfactory.
Nam Viet Corporation (ANV) saw second-quarter profit decreaseby 79 percent year-on-year to 32 billion VND, its lowest since the beginning of2017.
In the first half of this year net revenues dropped by 14percent while post-tax profits fell a whopping 79 percent to 75.5 billion VND.
The company forecasts full-year profit to fall by 72 percentto 200 billion VND.
Exports fell by 52 percent to 399 billion VND in the secondquarter, but, thanks to its focus on the Vietnamese market, domestic sales rose113 percent to 485 billion VND, surpassing exports for the first time.
ANV is seeking to further exploit domestic demand by tying upwith the distribution chain of VinEco belonging to Masan Group.
Diversifying products and export markets is helping creategrowth momentum and remove difficulties for tra fish exports, VASEP said./.
Many pangasius-farming households and export firms havesuffered in recent months as fish prices dropped steeply and export marketswere stagnant.
Since the beginning of this year exports of the country’s twomain seafood products, tra fish and shrimp, have been down sharply.
Tra exports have been particularly impacted by the COVID-19pandemic.
In the first half of this year, they were down 31 percent to 612.3million USD, according to VASEP. Shipments to all 10 leading markets decreasedfrom the same period last year, by 15.5 percent in the case of China, 24.4percent to the US and 36.6 percent to the EU.
Declining new orders, high inventories and low export priceshave caused profits of businesses and fish-farming households to plummet, withmany even suffering losses, VASEP said.
Le Vinh Trong, a tra fish farmer in An Giang province’s ChauThanh district, said normally the fish is harvested to sell to exportprocessing plants when it reaches a weight of 0.8-1kg.
However, his fish are now more than 10 months old and weigh1.8kg but there are no buyers.
He had to run around before finding a plant that agreed tobuy the fish for 17,700-18,000 VND per kilogramme, but on credit, prices atwhich he lost 5,000-6,500 VND per kilogramme.
Dong Thap province-based Vinh Hoan Company (VHC) announcedthat second quarter profit had halved year-on-year to 215 billion VND (9.2million USD).
The half-yearly profit too halved to less than 368 billionVND.
VHC is considering investment strategies to increase profitsthrough value chains. Besides its traditional tra exports, it is also eyeing anincrease in sales of fish fat and fish meal by 20 percent and collagen andgelatin products by 60 percent this year, thanks to the commissioning of a newfactory.
Nam Viet Corporation (ANV) saw second-quarter profit decreaseby 79 percent year-on-year to 32 billion VND, its lowest since the beginning of2017.
In the first half of this year net revenues dropped by 14percent while post-tax profits fell a whopping 79 percent to 75.5 billion VND.
The company forecasts full-year profit to fall by 72 percentto 200 billion VND.
Exports fell by 52 percent to 399 billion VND in the secondquarter, but, thanks to its focus on the Vietnamese market, domestic sales rose113 percent to 485 billion VND, surpassing exports for the first time.
ANV is seeking to further exploit domestic demand by tying upwith the distribution chain of VinEco belonging to Masan Group.
Diversifying products and export markets is helping creategrowth momentum and remove difficulties for tra fish exports, VASEP said./.
VNA
