VietNamNet Bridge – Tra fish exports will likely reach US$1.8 billion by the year’s end, equal to last year’s figure, demonstrating the efforts of the industry players in the context of export price volatility and struggling farmers.

Tra fish are sold at a market. Vietnamese tra fish has recently been included in the green list of healthy seafood products.



Export decline

The global economic downturn has affected the major importers like the EU, the U.S. and ASEAN and thus dealt a hard blow to Vietnam’s tra fish industry.

Tra fish listed as green product in Europe

The Trade Office of the Vietnamese Embassy in Sweden has announced that Sweden and Finland have put Vietnamese tra fish in the green list of the Handbook for Seafood Consumption.

The green list comprises seafood items that are good for health and recommended by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Ingar Naslund, fisheries spokesperson for WWF Sweden, said WWF Sweden had recently revised the latest version of the Handbook for Seafood Consumption, with Vietnamese catfish included in the green list.

Earlier, the Vietnam Trade Office in Sweden has informed WWF Sweden about the Vietnam tra fish industry having met its target for 2012 with 10% of its products getting ASC certificates. The industry sets a goat that by 2015, 100% of tra fish products will obtain certificates for responsible farming, including 50% receiving ASC certificates.

On that basis, WWF Sweden has decided to put Vietnamese tra fish in the green list of the Handbook for Seafood Consumption.

This offers a chance for the local tra fish industry to improve its prestige and expand the market. It also signals prosperity of tra fish export in the current difficult situation, said Truong Dinh Hoe, general secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers.

In the first 11 months of the year, tra fish exports fell by 2.4% year-on-year, bringing in US$1.6 billion, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

Five of the eight main tra fish buyers of Vietnam, including the EU, ASEAN, Mexico, Brazil and Saudi Arabia, reduced imports. Other markets namely the U.S., Columbia and China-Hong Kong recorded unstable growths.

In particular, tra fish exports to the U.S. grew gradually until August, and then dropped 7.5% in September and 20% in October and November.

Meanwhile, exports to the EU in November fetched US$29.8 million, down 11.8% year-on-year, marking the eighth consecutive month of decline.

However, VASEP predicted the total tra fish export turnover of 2012 would be US$1.8 billion, equal to the figure in 2011.

Nguyen Huy Dien, deputy director general of the General Directorate of Fisheries, said: “This figure reflects the efforts of farmers and enterprises to surmount difficulties.”

Multiple challenges

Since early this year, raw tra fish prices have been fluctuating, mainly downward, bringing losses to farmers. Some decided to quit farming, while others do it perfunctorily or switch to other kinds of fish.

Meanwhile, tra fish processors and exporters have to cope with material shortage and financial distress.

Duong Ngoc Minh, general director of Hung Vuong Corporation, said half of tra fish processing plants had been shut down, while the remaining ones were operating at a mere 40-50% capacity.

For example, the Can Tho-based tra fish processing plants with total capacity of some 1,200 tons per day now only produce 400 tons a day.

This leads to troubles for aqua feed producers. Over 40% of aqua feed factories have been closed down, said Minh.
Remarkable successes

For the local tra fish industry, 2012 is a year of difficulties. However, it also marks many positive results.

The U.S. Department of Commerce on August 31 announced its determination for the eighth antidumping duty administrative review on tra fish imported from Vietnam. The antidumping rate is set at zero for both mandatory and voluntary respondents, while the wide rate is US$2.11 per kilo, the lowest level among the administrative reviews so far.

In addition, Vietnamese tra fish jumps from the ninth place to the sixth place in the U.S. list of top ten popular seafood products compiled by the U.S. National Fisheries Institute.

The greatest success of the local tra fish industry in 2012 is that 10% of tra fish products will receive ASC certificates at the year’s end, satisfying the requirements of the choosy markets like the EU and the U.S.

Source: SGT