Processing tra fish for exports (Photo: VNA)HCM City (VNA) – Vietnam’s tra fish(pangasius) exports to China continued to record year-on-year strong growth of43 percent to 145 million USD in the first four months of 2018.
With this outcome, China has surpassed the US tobecome the biggest importer of Vietnamese tra fish, according to the VietnamAssociation of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).
Vietnam is currently the third largest providerof white fish for China, after Russia and Norway.
Tra and basa fish account for a mere 5.7 percentof China’s total import of white fish.
China’s demand for white fish is anticipated tocontinue growing in the time ahead, which means there is still a wide room forVietnamese tra fish.
The VASEP forecast the export turnover of trafish to the market will increase in the second quarter of 2018.
As tra fish exports to traditional markets likethe EU and the US are facing difficulties due to high anti-dumping tariffs andtechnical barriers, China is considered a good alternative market forbusinesses.
However, domestic businesses should be morecautious when promoting exports to China though this is the largest importer ofVietnamese tra fish at present, it warned.
VASEP Secretary-General Truong Dinh Hoe said theassociation has asked the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development toincrease quality management on tra fish exports to China, especially throughroad transport by granting quality product certificates before shipment.
The association also suggested the ministryinspect processing facilities to ensure the quality of export tra fish andstudy a long-term development strategy to promote exports in the market.
According to a report of the Directorate ofFisheries, the tra fish output hit 1.2 million tonnes in 2017, a year-on-yearrise of 5.1 percent. In the year, export turnover of this fish reached 1.78billion USD, up 4.3 percent against the previous year, accounting for 21percent of the fishery industry’s total export value.
As of late 2017, the total area of tra fishfarming was 5,230 ha, up 3.5 percent year-on-year, mainly in the Mekong Deltaregion
The export turnover of tra fish is expected toreach 2 – 2.2 billion USD in 2018, making up 31.5 percent of the fisheryindustry’s total export value. -VNA
VNA
