February 26, 2008

Australian company signs catfish supply agreement with QVD
 

Australis Aquaculture has announced the addition of basa fillets into its production line due to increasing demand, and all basa catfish are to be imported from Vietnam.

Australis has signed a four-year supply agreement with QVD, a Vietnamese catfish processing company, and one of the only two catfish producers that have secured reduced US import duties at 15 percent, a discount of almost 50 percent from the original duty rate of 63.8 percent.

The supply agreement will allow Australis to purchase all of QVD's available authentic basa catfish, which the company believes will hand them a market advantage.

Basa catfish provides an opportunity to diversify the Australis brand, said Josh Goldman, managing director of Australis. The basa catfish is popular and also has a competitive market price, he adds.

Global consumption of basa catfish is rising, but exports to the US are limited due to high import duties. Australis had introduced barramundi into the US some years ago, and the company believes that by building on that experience, it would be able to expand distribution of the basa catfish in the US market.