Price for farmed pangasius have taken a bounce up following the high demand of Cửu Long Delta provinces.
According to the Agriculture Department of Đồng Tháp province, the price rose by VNĐ3,000-4,500 per kilo year-on-year to VNĐ22,000-25,000 for pangasius portions, weighing 0.7-0.8 kilo per unit year-on-year. Meanwhile, the pangasius price also went up by VNĐ10,000 per kilo to VNĐ35,000-36,000 for 30 per kilo some two months before the Tết holiday because of the higher pangasius portion’s price. Farmers and enterprises in Đồng Tháp who mostly farm pangasius under the safety standards of Global GAP, VietGAP, BAP and ASC have seen a profit based on the current pangasius prices.
According to Đồng Tháp’s development plan, by 2020, the total output of farmed pangasius will reach 541,000 tonnes, and the its total capacity of processed products will be 250,000 tonnes. Pangasius will be one of five key products included in the provincial restructuring plan for agriculture.
Enterprises in the Cửu Long Delta provinces expected prices to continue rising because the current fish supply for processors has reached 50 per cent of demand, at 4,500 tonnes per day.
Hồ Văn Vàng, vice chairman of Việt Nam Tra Fish Association, said export orders for pangasius early this year rose by 10 per cent year-on-year, while the output of farmed pangasius in 2016 for export processing fell because farmers had suffered losses in pangasius development last year. Despite the higher pangasius material prices, farmers have not expanded the farming areas as they do not expect the price to remain at its current high level over the next 6-8 months, according to the association.
Hai Dang
