VietNamNet Bridge – Though Vietnam’s catfish is believed to be the best in the world, it has been experiencing difficulties in major export markets like the US and Europe.

European distributors are not spending much on advertising Vietnam’s catfish in the European market, as the profits are low, according to Jean Charles Diener, director of Ofco Sorcing, an importer and distributor of Vietnam’s catfish.

Catfish products are priced at 3-6 euros per kilo, while the other white-meat fish can be sold for 7-12 euros. However, European importers still import Vietnam’s catfish because customers like it.

The importers have fallen into a dilemma. Catfish imports from Vietnam take up room in their cold storehouses but they have to spend working capital to import the products, though profits from the trade are on the decrease.

Vietnam’s catfish has also been favored in the US, and many US food processors want to develop products made from Vietnam’s catfish.

Vietnam’s catfish has in many cases replaced US catfish in American families’ meals. It jumped from 9th to the 6th position on the list of the most consumed seafood products in the US in 2011.

Price too low

Vietnamese catfish processors and exporters once hoped that they could boost the catfish exports to the US, thus helping boost the Vietnamese catfish industry. However, the dream cannot come true and this is attributed to the unreasonable export strategy

Foreign consumers like Vietnam’s catfish but foreign importers and distributors say it has only a modest profit but requires huge capital.

The problem lies in the low selling prices of Vietnamese catfish products.

Vietnam’s catfish has faced anti-dumping lawsuits in the US in recent years.

Truong Dinh Hoe, secretary general of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), said the US has imposed an anti-dumping duty on imports from Vietnam, about $0.97 per kilo.

This makes Vietnam’s catfish unable to enter the US market, because the tax is as high as $1 per kilo, while the selling price is just over $3 per kilo.

According to Hoe, since the US Department of Commerce announced an anti-dumping duty in 2014, the number of Vietnamese enterprises exporting catfish to the US has dropped from 30 to eight.

Since mid-2014, the figure has dropped to three, because only enterprises which can enjoy low tax rates can make profits with exports to the US market.

Le Thanh Thuan, chair of Sao Mai An Giang Group, said that since Vietnam’s catfish is too cheap, it could be a defendant in anti-dumping lawsuits raised by farmers in export countries at any time.

Kim Chi