The EU turn their back on white meat fish of Russia, creating opportunity for Vietnamese pangasius
Some supermarkets in Europe start to reduce their purchases of pollock and haddock from Russia despite an increasing demand for white fish in the EU countries. This is opening up a good opportunity for Vietnamese pangasius.
General Director of Vĩnh Hoàn Corporation Nguyễn Ngô Vi Tâm said that the ongoing tension between Russia and Ukraine would create advantages for the corporation in the EU market. “Some supermarkets start to reduce their purchases of pollock and haddock from Russia amidst the increasing demand for white fish in Europe. Thus, this is a good opportunity for Vietnamese pangasius and Vĩnh Hoàn Corporation”, said Tâm.
In the EU market, Vietnamese pangasius has to compete against some kinds of white fish such as Russian pollock and haddock. Vietnamese pangasius is imposed an import tax rate of 5.5% while pollock enjoys a free duty policy. Nevertheless, in the next two or three years, the import tax rate imposed on Vietnamese pangasius will be 0%.
The EU market crucially depends on Russia’s white fish. Thus, it will be a big challenge for white meat fish importers into Europe to find substitute resources when seafood is prohibited in this market. This may open up an opportunity for Vietnamese pangasius.
As for the UK market alone, VASEP believes that the tension between Russia and Ukraine offers an opportunity for Vietnam’s pangasius companies to boost their sales in this market in the future.
In 2020, the UK had to import 48 thousand tons of white fish from Russia and 143 thousand tons from China which were processed by materials imported from Russia. A large amount of white fish imported from Norway, Poland, and Germany originated from Russia.
The sudden reduction of white fish in the UK can make seafood materials fetch prices up to at least 20-30%. The UK’s importing companies are facing difficulties in looking for substitute resources to reduce damages suffered by consumers.
Thus, this offers a good opportunity for Vietnam’s pangasius companies to boost their sales in this market. Vĩnh Hoàn ranks the first position in exporting pangasius to the UK, according to VASEP.
In Tâm’s opinion, as for a long-term period, Vĩnh Hoàn has some products suitable for European factories to use as materials. This is regarded as a great strength of the Corporation. Those products have been tried and highly evaluated by some customers.
In 2021, Vĩnh Hoàn penetrated into 42 markets, further five markets as compared to 2020, and focused on processing products to serve traditional markets and loyal customers. Vĩnh Hoàn’s biggest markets include the US (42%), China (15%) and the EU (10%), accounting for a total of 72% of the Corporation’s revenue.
Vĩnh Hoàn’s revenue from the EU alone increased by 15% with a worth of VND 1,427 billion. In March 2022, revenue from this market increased by 80% as compared to February, achieving VND 162 billion worth.
Vĩnh Hoàn sets a target of reaching VND 13,000 billion of gross revenue and VND 1,500 billion of profit after tax, equal to an increase by 43.5% and 35.6% respectively as compared to 2021. If the target is fulfilled, this will be the highest profit achieved by the Corporation since the establishment.
VFM
