Brazil is the third-largest single market for Vietnamese pangasius, accounting for $71 million, making up 5% of the country’s pangasius exports to the world. Vietnam is also the largest whitefish supplier to this South American nation.
According to statistics from the International Trade Centre (ITC), in 2022, Brazil imported 63.2 thousand tons of whitefish from the world, of which Vietnam was the largest supplier with over 28 thousand tons, valued at $60 million, accounting for 45% by volume and 32% by value. Argentina, Portugal, Norway, and China followed with 21 thousand tons, 5 thousand tons, 3 thousand tons, and 2.7 thousand tons, respectively.
According to ITC, by the end of August 2023, Brazil had spent $56 million buying whitefish from Vietnam, up 35% from the same period last year, constituting 30% of Brazil’s imports from the world. Vietnam remains the primary supplier of whitefish to Brazil.
The General Department of Vietnam Customs stated that in Q3/2023, Brazil consumed over $33 million worth of Vietnamese pangasius, up 49% y-o-y. The accumulated export value of Vietnamese pangasius to Brazil in the first 9 months of 2023 reached $71 million, up 0.4% from the same period last year.
In August 2023, Brazil imported over $13 million worth of Vietnamese pangasius, a 53% y-o-y increase, marking the highest volume of this species sent to Brazil since earlier this year. After a 20% decline in imports in June 2023, this Latin American country has consistently seen double-digit growth in the third quarter of 2023, with increases of 35%, 53%, and 57%.
In contrast to many other markets, Brazil only imports frozen fillet pangasius (HS0304) from Vietnam. By the end of September 2023, the export value of this category to Brazil reached $71 million, a 0.4% y-o-y decrease.
In Q3/2023, the average selling price of Vietnamese pangasius to Brazil dropped to $2.81/kg, the lowest in the past two years. Previously, in June, July, August, and September, prices ranged around below $3/kg. There is still considerable room for whitefish consumption in low- and middle-income countries like Brazil.
VFM
