According to July 2009 market report of Pangasius, it is going through tough times as Russia and Egypt banned imports, negative image created in Italy and Germany scaring consumers away from buying pangasius. The most important factor that mars the market of pangasius is unwanted competition by undercutting prices substantially. At the moment, it is probably the only fillet on offer in Europe below EUR 10.00/kg. On the other hand, because of low prices paid to pangasius farmers in 2008, the area devoted to breeding has been reduced.
The Mekong Delta, Vietnam’s major pangasius breeding region, is devoted to breeding the fish was reduced by 600 hectares, to 5 240 hectares at the end of last year. It is told that after 10 years of developing pangasius breeding and processing, the fish is exported to 107 countries and territories. The report states that Vietnam plans to produce between 1.3 million tonnes and 1.5 million tonnes, and export USD 1.5 billion worth of the pangasius products in 2009.
In the first four months of 2009, Vietnam earned USD 375 million from exporting 163 000 tonnes of pangasius, a slight decrease compared with the same period last year. In terns of quantity, exports were more or less stable. However, it is said that Egypt has now affirmed its official resumption of granting permits for Vietnamese pangasius to be exported to Egypt. Vietnam plans to export 100 000 tonnes of pangasius to Russia this year, after that country lifted an import ban in April 2009. At the end of June 2009, Viet Nam had exported over 10 000 tonnes of tra and basa fish at USD 3.10/kg to Russia since 25 April 2009 when Russia officially reopened its market to Vietnamese fish.
The report mentioned that Global GAP, announced its new pangasius and tilapia standards, which were published after having been tested on fish farms. The development of the pangasius standard started in Viet Nam, the main producing country. Supported by German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), the working group presented a first draft proposal to GlobalGAP.
