The General Department of Customs reports that in September 2023, exports of products made from pangasius totaled over 165 million USD, indicating a 1% increase over the same period the previous year. For the first time this year, exports of pangasius have demonstrated encouraging signals for growth. Exports of pangasius saw a positive double-digit growth to major markets such as China, Hong Kong, EU, Brazil, Mexico, etc. As of September 2023, the situation had changed significantly when the number of pangasius exported to China and Hongkong reached over 55 million USD, an increase of 15% over the same period last year. Although in the first nine months of 2023, export turnover to these two markets only reached more than 400 million USD, a decrease of 26% compared to the same period in 2023, China and Hong Kong continue to be the two markets importing and consuming the most Vietnamese pangasius since 2019.
In addition, data indicates that the EU alliance's demand for Vietnamese pangasius products has not decreased, turning the EU into one of the most promising markets for Vietnam's pangasius export sector. With a consumption of almost 15 million USD in September, the EU market confirmed its preference for Vietnamese pangasius, up over 10% compared to the same month the previous year and nearly 10% from August.
Apart from the encouraging growth statistics, certain import markets continue to experience notable decreases. For example, the US, which is the second-largest market for Vietnamese pangasius imports, witnessed a decrease of nearly 30% in September and a decrease of over 30% in September. 50% of the total in the first nine months of this year compared to 2022, mostly as a result of excessive stockpiles brought on by low market consumption. September saw the lowest decline in pangasius exports to the CPTPP market (*) of the year, at 4%. Some of the CPTPP bloc's nations, like New Zealand, Mexico, Japan, and others, continue to experience positive growth of 10–70% despite the overall situation.
The world has recently faced significant challenges due to a decline in aggregate demand, high inflation despite cooling, tighter monetary policy, alarmingly rising public debt, and heightened tensions during war. Russia and Ukraine are still evolving in complicated ways, with signs of instability in the political environment, food security, and climate change. This sign of recovery is very encouraging for the whole Vietnamese seafood export industry, even though there are still challenges and the growth in pangasius exports in September 2023 is not significant.
To restore the standing of Vietnam's fisheries industry, one of the key economic sectors alongside agriculture and cape, hopefully noticeable results will be seen in the fourth quarter of 2023 and the subsequent period. the engine driving the entire economy of our nation is exports
Note (*): CPTPP is a free trade agreement (FTA) between 11 countries around the Pacific Rim: Canada, Mexico, Peru, Chile, New Zealand, Australia, Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Japan. CPTPP accounts for a significant proportion (about 13%) of world GDP.
Reference source: VASEP