October 15, 2014

Vietnam overtakes China as Brazil's fish fillet supplier

Vietnam has become Brazil's largest frozen fish fillet supplier, surpassing China, data culled by the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters & Producers (VASEP) showed.

VASEP reported that the volume of frozen fish fillets exported to Brazil in the first eight months reached 44,000 tonnes compared with China's 33,000 tonnes.

It noted a growing trend in Brazil's import of pangasius, or freshwater shark catfish, much of which was supplied by Vietnam.

According to the association, the Vietnamese pangasius exports to Brazil from January to August reached US$81.2 million in value.

It said Brazil's imports of frozen catfish fillets increased by 88.7% in the first eight months compared with the same period in 2013, adding that frozen catfish fillets represented a quarter of its total imports of fillet products.

Brazil's total frozen fillet imports during the eight-month period, however, fell by 7.4% to 109,000 tonnes from 118,000 tonnes in 2013, according to VASEP.