Export companies specializing in pangasius fish enjoyed exceptional growth, Vinh Hoan expanding by 82% and IDI expanding by 86.3% in the first six months of 2022

Pangasius enterprises grew the most rapidly in the first half of 2022. IDI led the way with an 86.3 per cent gain, followed by Vinh Hoan "queen of fish" with an 82.1 per cent increase and NAVICO with a 41.3 per cent increase...

The value of seafood exports surpassed 5.7 billion USD

General Department of Customs, the seafood business set several records in the first half of 2022. The whole fishing business generated 5.7 billion USD in foreign currency, an almost 40% increase over the same time in 2021.

Pangasius items accounted for 1.4 billion USD in sales, an increase of 82%. Shrimp exports continued to contribute the biggest share of over 2.3 billion USD, accounting for 40%.

Despite raw material shortages, seafood products grew at a pace of 12-55 per cent during the same period, bringing in more than USD 2 billion.

The overall export value of pangasius to the China - Hong Kong market reached 427.6 million USD in the first six months of 2022, increasing 107 per cent from the same period last year. Previously, during the first four months of this year, China's Zero Covid regulation "made it tough" for marine goods.

However, after over two years of implementation, China has decided to discontinue the policy of suspending the import of frozen food tainted with the Sars-COV-2 virus. This is expected to boost Vietnam's frozen pangasius shipments to this market in the latter quarters of the year.

By the end of June 2022, the overall value of pangasius exports to the United States had reached 356.4 million USD, a 111 per cent increase over the same period last year, accounting for 25 per cent of total pangasius export value. However, the increase in pangasius exports to this market has slowed in the last two months.

The CPTPP market is the third largest pangasius export market. The overall export value of pangasius to this market in the first six months of this year reached 180 million USD, an increase of 66.3 per cent over the same time the previous year.

In particular, the Mexican market - the bloc's largest import market with a value of US$62.4 million, up 68.5 per cent - As a result, the value of pangasius exports to Mexico has overtaken Thailand and Brazil (which are assessed as two more potential markets).

How are seafood firms progressing?

Despite the storm of rising input prices and high selling prices, seafood processing and exporting businesses remain robust. Many businesses saw an increase in export sales in the first half of this year. The pangasius industry was especially important to the group of enterprises that saw rapid expansion.

Vinh Hoan Joint Stock Company (VHC), the "Queen of Pangasius," placed top with sales of over 226 million USD, an increase of 82.1 per cent over the same time the previous year.

Aside from Vinh Hoan, other pangasius exporting enterprises had strong sales growth, including I.D.I Company (IDI), which climbed by 86.3 per cent to USD 70.6 million, and NAVICO (ANV), which increased by 41.3 per cent to USD 70.6 million.

Furthermore, the revenues of shrimp exporting enterprises increased, but at a slower rate than in the first quarter.

Minh Phu Joint Stock Company (MPC), which includes Minh Phu - Hau Giang TS Processing Joint Stock Company, is at the top, with 328.7 million USD, a 15% increase over the same time. Sao Ta Food Company (FMC) increased their revenue by 18% to $85.8 million.

Thuan Phuoc Seafood Joint Stock Company (THP) followed with sales of 64.5 million USD, a 13 per cent increase over the same time. Camimex Group Joint Stock Company (CMX) increased by 32.5 per cent in the first half of the year to 36.3 million USD.

Meanwhile, Ca Mau Seafood Joint Stock Company (SEAPRIMEXCO VIETNAM, CAT) is practically flat in the second half of 2022, with 14 million USD.

According to VASEP, it is already difficult to put containers 4-5 times more difficult from 2020 to now, for a variety of reasons including "port congestion" owing to the Covid-19 outbreak and now the increase in gasoline fuel prices. 

Although it had fallen slightly by June 2022, the freight rate to export a 40-foot container (cont) across the East Coast of the United States (Florida) was around 16,400 USD/cont, including the cost of road transportation. Sets from manufacturers in the provinces of Ho Chi Minh City (which account for more than 60% of total production), the average price is 400-410 million VND/cont.

The second issue is that around 40-50 per cent of fishing vessels are onshore. In comparison to earlier, the source of raw materials for processing industries reduced by 70-80%. Seafood processing plants are also struggling as a result of a substantial decline in domestic raw materials. Businesses are obliged to expand their reliance on imported raw resources, but only to a limited extent.

According to VASEP, agricultural raw materials currently account for 70% of raw materials for export processing. As a result, firms must develop concentrated farming regions to boost raw materials for export processing. However, because communities are currently urbanizing, changes in site planning for production and land use planning pose significant obstacles for seafood businesses and aquaculture farmers.

Another issue that seafood enterprises face is that the methods for authenticating the provenance of harvested fish are still insufficient. As a result, businesses continue to face challenges when employing certified raw materials.

The EU has not withdrawn the IUU yellow label for Vietnamese seafood as of June 2022. As a result, VASEP proposed that the State develop a strategy to invest in fisheries infrastructure and strengthen the capability for ship management and marine exploitation. 

Immediate improvements to the fishing vessel management database, amendments to logging legislation, and digitization of the inspection, certification, and exploitation certification processes are required.

However, despite numerous hurdles, VASEP believes that with the flexibility and efforts of Vietnamese seafood firms, the record of exporting 10 billion USD this year is well within reach.

By Etime