March 16, 2012

Mekong Delta farmers to sell pangasius fish largely over bankruptcy fear

For fear that local processing plants will go bankrupt, farmers in the Mekong Delta region have raced to sell their pangasius fish massively, the Viet Nam newspaper reported Thursday (Mar 15).

As a result, pangasius fish prices decreased from VND27,500-28,000 (US$1.32-1.35) per kilogramme to VND24,000-VND25,000 (US$1.16-1.20) per kilogramme, which are lower than the production costs, the newspaper said.

The fear has risen after the Binh An Seafood JSC (Bianfishco) in Vietnam's Mekong Delta city of Can Tho goes under bankruptcy threat with huge debts of VND261 billion (US$12.4 million) to local farmers for pangasius fish they supplied.

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) has called on farmers not to sell their fish massively to avoid losses.

Currently local farmers have about 200,000 tonnes of pangasius fish in their ponds, meeting 17% of the total volume that Vietnam plans to process this year, so there is no ground for the fear, the VASEP said.

Pangasius fish is forecast not to meet demand for processing after several months due to current shortage of fish babies.

Vietnam's pangasius fish exports to the US are expected to rise thank to the decrease of anti-dumping import tax of the Department of Commerce, the VASEP said.

The country's pangasius fish export revenues in the first quarter is forecast to increase 15% on year to US$450 million.