Vietnam no longer the only catfish producer

Over the last 20 years, catfish has been the exclusive product of Vietnam. But other countries are stepping up catfish production, becoming rivals for Vietnam.

Vietnam is a big catfish producer

Vietnam’s catfish industry made a big leap in the last 20 years with export turnover soaring from $1.65 million in 1997, or 0.2 percent of total seafood export turnover, to $1.7 billion in 2017, amounting to 20 percent of total seafood export turnover.

However, Vietnam’s position as the biggest catfish producer in the world is being threatened, as warned by Nhu Van Can from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), because many other countries have also stepped up production of catfish.

According to Can, the farming output is 650,000 tons in India and 450,000 tons in Bangladesh. 

Meanwhile, sources said China has used new technologies in farming catfish.

Vietnam’s catfish industry made a big leap in the last 20 years with export turnover soaring from $1.65 million in 1997, or 0.2 percent of total seafood export turnover, to $1.7 billion in 2017, amounting to 20 percent of total seafood export turnover.

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers’ (VASEP) secretary general Truong Dinh Hoe said the catfish output in Indonesia has reached 110,000 tons per annum, while China can harvest 10,000 tons.

Hoe doesn’t think the new catfish farming countries would be big competitive influence for Vietnam. However, he warned that once the countries can farm catfish with high technologies, they would reduce imports. 

This means that Vietnam may see changes in catfish exports in the future.

Therefore, Hoe said, in the future, Vietnam needs to focus on improving quality rather than trying to increase productivity.

Regarding the Chinese market. Hoe said it is still necessary to check information on catfish farming in China, but with the current technologies, it will have an impact on Vietnam.

Another challenge that Hoe mentioned is the need for inspections to find prohibited substances in farming and products to treat farming ponds.

The control over prohibited antibiotics has been implemented well over the last two years. However, some biological preparations have been found containing prohibited substances.

Problems have also arisen with exports to China across the border gates. To settle the problem, VASEP has suggested tightening control over food safety by granting certificates to consignments shipped by land.

A report from VASEP showed that in the first seven months of 2018, Vietnam’s catfish export turnover reached $1.2 billion, an increase of 19 percent over the same period last year. China-Hong Kong led the export markets which consumed $290 million worth of products, or 24.2 percent of the export turnover. 

The US consumed $255 million worth of products during the same time, or 21.3 percent, and the EU $139 million, or 11.6 percent.

MARD’s  Deputy Minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong predicted that Vietnam’s catfish export turnover would for the first time reach $2 billion this year.