HANOI: Vietnamese pangasius exports for January 2015 fell to $137.8 million (€129.5 million), down 12.2 percent year on year, according to Pangasius-vietnam.
Around 98.7 percent of total pangasius exports were formed from frozen fillets, worth $136.2 million (€128 million), while other processed pangasius products made up 1.22 percent valued at $1.67 million (€1.6 million).
Currently the two biggest markets for Vietnam pangaisus are the United States which accounts for 22.5 percent of the total value, and the European Union (EU) which makes up 14.3 percent of the total value.
In January, pangasius exports to the US reached a value of $31 million (€29.2 million), a 19.4 percent decrease year on year, while exports to the EU dropped 34.5 percent year on year to $21 million (€19.7 million).
However other markets, such as Mexico and China, witnessed growth to become the third and fourth biggest markets for Vietnam’s pangasius, respectively.
Statistics of General Customs revealed that pangasius exports to Mexico in January 2015 were worth $14.71 million (€13.8 million), up 81.7 percent year on year, accounting for 10.7 percent of Vietnam’s pangasius total export value.
Exports to China accounted for 9.3 percent of Vietnam pangasius exports reaching $12.87 million (€12.1 million), up 95.2 percent year on year.
Exports to Asean nations in January 2015 were worth $11.21 million (€10.5 million), up 16.7 percent year on year, representing 8.1 percent of Vietnam pangasius exports.
Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines all saw positive growth rates.
Canada replaced Brazil in the top 8 leading pangasius importing markets as Brazil has been developing tilapia and enhanced tilapia imports for domestic consumption.