Farmers feed tra fish in Cho Moi district, the Mekong Delta province of An Giang (Photo: VNA) An Giang (VNA) – Vietnam’s tra fish exports fell 29.3percent year on year to 334 million USD in the first three months of this year,due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the industry – a big foreign currency earner– may fully recover in the third quarter, according to the Directorate ofFisheries.
At a meeting in the Mekong Delta province of AnGiang on May 7, the Vietnam Pangasius (Tra Fish) Association reported that theCOVID-19 outbreak has affected tra fish production, processing and exportssince the beginning of the year, leading to a year-on-year decline of 5.7percent in the new farming area to 777ha, 20.8 percent in the harvested area to602ha, and 23.6 percent in output to nearly 180,000 tonnes.
Besides, the pandemic has been developingcomplicatedly in countries such as China, the US, the Republic of Korea andsome European nations, which are major importers of Vietnamese tra fish.
As a result, aquatic exports to key markets inQ1 plummeted compared to the same period last year with shipments to China down48 percent, the EU 47.3 percent, and the US 19.8 percent.
The association said the sudden decrease has causeddifficulties for exporters with a knok-on effect on the production of rawmaterials as well as support businesses like aquaculture medicine and feedproducers.
Drought and saltwater intrusion in the MekongDelta, the largest agricultural hub in Vietnam, have also added a furthercomplication to the tra fish industry.
However, the association noted, interruptions tosupply chains due to the COVID-19 pandemic are just temporary, and tradingactivities are likely to resume once it is under control.
Tran Dinh Luan, General Director of theDirectorate of Fisheries under the Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment (MARD), said China has managed to control the outbreak and begun torecover trading activities, while the inventory in some other large importerscurrently stands at a low level.
He forecast the tra fish industry will fullyrecover in Q3, and exports to China may revive right at the end of this month.Therefore, it is necessary to work out plans to regulate production to preventa shortage of input materials for processing and export.
At the meeting, MARD Minister Nguyen Xuan Cuongsaid Vietnam has developed a tra fish industry raking in billions of USD fromexports every year with products shipped to nearly 120 countries. However, theexport volume and value have yet to match the potential.
The pangasius association, the VietnamAssociation of Seafood Exporters and Producers, the MARD and Mekong Deltalocalities will work to tackle pandemic-caused difficulties facing exportersand promote export to the markets that have partly contained the COVID-19. Theywill also coordinate to boost shipments to potential markets like Russia andBrazil, along with sales in the domestic market to avoid overdependence onexports, he added./.
VNA
