Tra fish exports are expected to increase by the end of the third quarter thanks to high demand from the international market, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

The increase is largely due to a higher volume of tra fish purchases by foreign importers to meet high demand during holidays at the year-end.

VASEP forecasts that tra fish exports in the third quarter will increase by 12 percent against the second quarter, reaching an export value of 480 million USD.

Tra fish contributes 26.3 percent to the nation's total seafood export turnover. Total export turnover of tra fish this year would likely reach 1.8-2 billion USD, the association has said.

The US, the EU and Southeast Asia continue to be the biggest markets for Vietnamese tra fish.

VASEP said that since the end of the second quarter, tra fish exports had increased by 27-30 percent in the US, and by 30-40 percent in Southeast Asia .

In the two first quarters of the year, tra fish exports did not gain a good result due to the global recession. In the first quarter, the export value year-on-year increased by 13 percent, and in the second quarter, it rose only 6 percent, reaching 428 million USD.

For the first six months of the year, the export value of tra fish was 854 million USD year-on-year, up by only 3 percent.-VNA