Vietnamese pangasius companies reported strong growth in the first half of 2022 thanks to high demand in global markets. But rising costs, mainly due to inflation, are making providing local farmers with a tough decision as to when and whether to restock their ponds.
Data from the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) covering the first six months of this year indicates Vietnam exported pangasius worth USD 1.4 billion (EUR 1.37 billion), up 82.4 percent year-on-year.
China (including Hong Kong) purchased USD 427.6 million (EUR 417.9 million) worth of Vietnamese pangasius, up 107 percent year-on-year; the U.S. took in USD 356.4 million (EUR 348.3 million), up 111 percent; and the countries under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) – which includes Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, Mexico, Vietnam, Peru, Chile, Brunei, and Malaysia – bought USD 180 million (EUR 175.9 million), up 66.3 percent year-on-year.
Consequently, Vietnam-based pangasius companies also realized higher prices in the first six months of 2022 due to growing global demand.
Vinh Hoan, the country’s top pangasius exporter, achieved an export value of USD 226 million (EUR 220.9 million) in the first half of 2022, up 82 percent year-on-year. Other pangasius companies also celebrated much higher export values, including Bien Dong Seafood seeing their sales rise 41 percent year-on-year; IDI achieving 86 percent growth in export sales; Navico recording 41 percent growth in exports by value; Van Duc Tien Giang seeing a 61 percent gain; Dai Thanh Tien Giang’s export sales rising 118 percent; and NTFS hitting an 87 percent increase.
Overall, Vietnam had a total farming area of 3,105 hectares devoted to pangasius in the first six months of the year, up 1 percent from the first half of 2021; with a total production volume of 771,430 metric tons (MT), up 6 percent year-on-year, according to Vietnam’s General Department of Fisheries.
However, VASEP has precited the pangasius exports in the third quarter of 2022 are unlikely to maintain the same pace of growth, mainly due to the impacts of high inflation in global market. High inflation isn’t just impacting prices at the consumer and foodservice level, VASEP said – it is also affecting pangasius farming activities in Vietnam due to higher feed and other input material prices.