September 4, 2008

As fish farmers in Vietnam's Mekong Delta have quit fish breeding, prices of pangasius, or tra and basa catfish, have jumped some VND1,500 per kilogramme over the past few days.

Duong Ngoc Minh, general director of the seafood processing firm Hung Vuong Corp., said that tra and basa were selling for VND15,500 per kilo. He added that supplies had dwindled since 50 percent of the region's farmers had stopped raising the fish, Thanhnien News reported.

Despite price increases, many Vietnamese farmers will still lose VND1,500 per kilo due to higher input expenses, explained Minh.

Meanwhile, the demand from the EU and Central American markets has increased by between 20 to 50 percent, he said.

US$1 = VND16,585 as of September 4, 2008