October 8, 2013

Vietnam's pangasius export to India rises

In the first nine months of 2013, Vietnam's aquaculture production registered an estimate of 284,000 tonnes, which drove the estimated figure to 2,359,000 tonnes out of which 723,000 tonnes were pangasius or Vietnamese tra, as indicated by the Directorate of Fisheries statistics.

Vietnam Customs reported that the country's pangasius products worth US$7.67 million were exported up to August this year, having increased from US$5.9 million compared to the same period in 2012.

According to Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters & Producers (VASEP), India has been importing more Vietnamese tra over the last three years buoyed by affordable prices and generous supply. This is also a consequence of Indian marine stocks currently on the decrease, which has led local fishermen to focus on smaller species and to the lack of quality raw materials for processing fish fillets has in the country.

India's seafood consumption per capita is steadily going up. More seafood demand from the densely populated country has meant rampant overfishing has led to the rapid depletion of fish stocks. Meanwhile, rapid urbanisation has meant a greater variety of new supermarkets, and this, in turn has led to more choice in consumer goods.

In 2008-09 fiscal year, catches went up 7% but this percentage went down in the period of 2012-13 (3.5%). In 2012, India's seafood import was recorded at US$68.39 million, a decrease of 39% from US$112.4 million the year before. From these figures, seafood from Bangladesh represented 53% of the total seafood consumption, with a value of US$36.39 million. The second supplier was Vietnam worth US$11.25 million, or 16.5%.

Vietnam's market shares of products in India increased from 7.7% in 2011 to 16.5% in 2012. On the other hand, shares from Bangladesh went down from 77.9% to 53% in 2012. 

In 2012, India's purchase of seafood products went up compared to 2011, excluding fresh fish, which decreased 59.8%. The highest growth of 829% was seen in live fish species. It was followed by frozen fishes with an 84.6% rise.

India's imports of frozen fish fillets were worth US$10.5 million in 2012. The leading supplier was Vietnam worth US$7.69 million, up almost 32% from US$5.8 million in 2011 and represented 73% of proportion. For the most part, India bought pangasius from Vietnam, which is the main factor of a strong increase in seafood imports from Vietnam during the recent years.